OLEUM COCOS, vergeten ben ik (2015)
Festival Perron Oost, Amsterdam: 40’
A performance about the forgotten history of the Insulinde Oil Factory
A final step towards the door… a hand reaching out, a last look back, a final thought in silence… the last glimpse of a coat, the last glimpse of a black coat… until it disappears, until everything is gone and darkness falls… until all that remains is waiting, waiting, the space itself waiting to be seen again.
In 1913, the Insulinde oil company was established to process coconut oil. The performance traces both the wealth and abundance generated by the company, and the invisible connections it maintained with the Dutch East Indies.
Coconut oil was shipped from Banjoewangi, Java, to the Cruquiuskade in Amsterdam. The Insulinde buildings were constructed in 1919. In a short period of time, the company grew into a multimillion-guilder enterprise, with its own fleet and housing for workers in Bangoewangi.
After the company’s directors died of the Spanish flu in America, Insulinde collapsed in 1922 as a result of mismanagement. The office on the Cruquiusweg is the only remaining trace of this turbulent chapter in Dutch history.
Oleum Cocos was made in coöperation with Aart Jilesen.