Grisha Kirby
Explore Lab
The House of Lost Steps: A syncretic space for Judeo-Moluccan memory in Appingedam
The first Ashkenazi Jewish community in the Netherlands arrived in Appingedam, Groningen in the 16th century but was practically eradicated in the 1940s through their forced eviction to the Westerbork concentration camp. My grandmother is the last survivor. After the war, Kamp Westerbork housed a new diaspora, the Moluccans, whose temporary stay during Dutch-Indonesian independence negotiations became permanent by 1960. Coincidentally, their first official city of residence also became Appingedam. Despite the remarkable fact that two distinct diasporic communities found a home in this rural city, the streets of Appingedam lack any commemoration of this profound shared experience.
I have designed an archive in the mediaeval centre to crystallise this history, emphasising a syncretic collective memory over exclusive remembrance. I believe this multi-directional approach to memory must be further explored in memory-space discourse. This archive represents an ongoing connection to the past, turning memory into active practice.