changeMakers: The new exhibition by the dansMuseum
In the exhibition changeMakers, five dance makers in the Netherlands with roots in Indonesia and the former Dutch East Indies explore how they incorporate their (multi)cultural backgrounds into their artistic work. They also explore how their stories contribute to conversations about history and heritage and the dance field in the Netherlands. changeMakers is a multi-year project that is part of a broader vision of Dutch dance, aimed at enriching current dance practice with new stories and perspectives that deepen and broaden the current image of dance.
The participating artists are Ciro Monoarfa Goudsmit, LeineRoebana (Andrea Leine and Harijono Roebana), Nita Liem, Cheroney Pelupessy, and Lisette Ros. Starting November 13, they will share excerpts from their work on the new changeMakers website on a monthly basis, for example through texts, photos, videos, or audio recordings. These contributions will give visitors an insight into how personal and cultural experiences influence the artistic developments of the makers.
Research exhibition
changeMakers challenges traditional exhibition formats by focusing not on the end result, but on the research itself. The exhibition changes as the makers' research progresses and is designed in collaboration with a community panel and two context researchers. The panel consists of seven representatives of the Indo-Indonesian community, while the context researchers offer perspectives from socio-cultural and dance-historical contexts. The members of the community panel are Gerard Mosterd, Gi Au-Yeung, Gwen Langenberg, Lynn Bartels, Renée Copraij, Sascha Lekatompessy, and Stacz Wilhelm, and the context researchers are Asmara Pelupessy and Kareth Schaffer. Together, they support the makers and enrich the research with insights from the community and the dance field.
Duration of changeMakers
The platform of the exhibition is now online and the first contributions appear on November, 13. The exhibition will conclude with a live presentation during the Nederlandse Dansdagen in October 2026. changeMakers invites visitors to discover how dance, heritage, and community come together. With this project, Nederlandse Dansdagen takes a step towards an inclusive and future-oriented way of storytelling in the arts, highlighting the unique contributions of dance makers with a multicultural background to the Dutch dance field.
The danceMuseum
The danceMuseum is the online museum of the Nederlandse Dansdagen, dedicated to celebrating and supporting Dutch dance. The platform informs, inspires, and challenges by offering exhibitions, research projects, and educational programs. With changeMakers, the danceMuseum shows how dance makers with multicultural backgrounds enrich Dutch dance and connect it to current social themes.
