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The ocean is not a dividing line but a bridge at the Read My World literary festival

From NRC Handelsblad · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Read My World in Amsterdam is focusing this year on the Moluccas and West Papua, bringing together writers and artists from Indonesia, their diasporas and elsewhere.
  • Co-curators Theoresia Rumthe and Defe Wabiser use the theme “Oceanic Solidarity” to explore shared history, migration, culture and connections across the sea.
  • The festival aims to encourage exchange among Moluccan and Papuan communities, their diasporas and other participants through literature and art.

For Theoresia Rumthe, the ocean is not the boundary between the Moluccas and West Papua. It is what connects them. “The ocean is not something that separates us, but something that connects us,” the poet says.

Sometimes you meet people and feel that they will cross your path again later.

· Defe WabiserShe recalled her first meeting with Theoresia Rumthe in Bandung in 2017.

Rumthe and Defe Wabiser first met by chance in 2017 at a library and bookshop in Bandung, West Java. Nearly a decade later, the two women from eastern Indonesia are working together on Read My World, a literary festival taking place in Amsterdam. Rumthe, from the Moluccas, is a poet who leads a literary platform. Wabiser, from West Papua, works as an activist protecting the living environment of Indigenous peoples.

This year’s festival focuses on the Moluccas and West Papua. It has invited guests from both parts of Indonesia, along with writers and artists from the Moluccan and Papuan diasporas and from elsewhere. Through stories, poems and other forms of art and culture, the organizers want to create a broad exchange among the two peoples, their diasporas and other interested participants.

The ocean is not something that separates us, but something that connects us.

· Theoresia RumtheShe described the festival’s central view of the relationship between the Moluccas and West Papua.

The co-curators found a shared framework in “Oceanic Solidarity.” Rumthe points to the sea across which about 12,500 Moluccan KNIL soldiers and family members were brought to the Netherlands from the Moluccas and other parts of Indonesia with their families from 1951 onward. The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army included Dutch and Indigenous soldiers and fought to protect colonial interests. Images of the voyage, she says, continue to bring that history back to life.

The ocean is a universe that we share.

· Theoresia RumtheShe explained how the ocean represents knowledge, home, culture, migration, history and diaspora.

For Rumthe, the ocean represents more than a physical space. “The ocean is a universe that we share,” she says. It also stands for knowledge, home, culture, migration, history and diaspora. Young Indonesian artists, she says, want a stronger connection with “the brothers and sisters in the Netherlands.” Water has long linked communities in Indonesia as well. “In our culture, the ocean is naturally shared,” Rumthe says. “People are never alone by the ocean. They live together, fish together and help one another.”

In our culture, the ocean is naturally shared. People are never alone by the ocean. They live together, fish together and help one another.

· Theoresia RumtheShe described the communal role of the ocean in Indonesian culture.
About this summary

Originally published by NRC Handelsblad in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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