The final activity for the Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie project: 'Engaging textile heritage communities through citizen culture', was kicked off by the opening of this mini-exhibition with the title 'Verbinding' (Connection), on Tuesday, 1 October 2024.
This comes after 18 months of participatory activities with diaspora community members at the TRC Leiden. In April 2023, we started inviting members of various diaspora communities belonging to cultural organisations and community centres primarily in Leiden, but also from Amsterdam and Capelle a/d IJssel.
Mini TRC exhibition: Verbinding
For this last activity, multimedia artist Ramia Suleiman joined the project team to help with developing the theme and concept of the mini-exhibition, and outreach for participants. This was more than a presentation of culture; it was a presentation of the participants' own emotional connection through textiles. In Ghada Abhari and Herra Pahlasari we found a great team who were committed to work on every aspect of their exhibition.
Guests at the opening of the TRC mini exhibition "Verbinding', 1 October 2024. Photograph by Maria Linkogle.
We had our first meeting with Ghada and Herra in July. They were asked to bring a textile object with which they had an emotional connection. Ghada brought a wall hanging that belonged to her mother, which she brought back from Syria after her mother’s passing. Herra brought her Ulos (piece of cloth she used as a baby carrier), which was a gift she received from her mother-in-law when she had her first child.
Standing and talking during the opening of the mini exhibition.We talked about the emotions that these items brought up. Feelings of being embraced by family was a strong emotion felt by both. We talked about this over several meetings. We all agreed that this exhibition explores textile heritage and its role in our feeling of connection to where we come from in terms of geographical area and family. Textile material and immaterial heritage keep us connected to the places and the people we love and are reminders that they will always be with us. It was all about Verbinding (Connection)
Throughout the whole process, we looked at items that belonged to Ghada and Herra, as well as items from the TRC and we came up with a collection of items that represented the feeling of connection to homeland and family for each of them. In the weeks before the exhibition, through a combination of in-person meetings and a continuous stream of messages in our app group, we nailed down the more practical matters. Most of the hands-on work of putting the exhibition display together happened on the Friday before the opening.
From left to right: Christina de Korte, Ramia Suleiman, Maria Linkogle, Ghada Abhari and Herra Pahlasari.The evening was both joyous and emotional from the opening speech to the talks by Herra and Ghada about what the process of setting up the exhibition was like for them. The discussions continued as we mingled around and enjoyed the delicious treats, especially the Indonesian snacks made by Herra. A special thank you to TRC volunteers who helped with the last minute preparations and during the exhibition.
There is still time to come and see the exhibition. It has been extended until Friday, 18 October.
TRC is open Monday through Thursday from 10:00 to 15:00. Visits on Friday are by appointment only. Please follow the links below for the content for the textboards prepared by Ghada and Herra.
- Identity, memory, and the enduring bond with my roots, by Ghada Abhari
- Parompa, the warmth of family protection, by Herra Pahlasari
Maria Linkogle, 14 October 2024
