TERRA INCOGNITA - ILONA LANBGROEK: AMSTERDAM

Bildhalle is proud to present the first solo show of Dutch photographer Ilona Langbroek (*1970). With this exhibition we open the gallery season 2021/2022 in Amsterdam. Ilona Langbroek's body of work will also be highlighted at Photo London, Unseen Amsterdam and Photo Basel in September and at PAN Amsterdam in November. 

 

With the exhibition TERRA INCOGNITA we present Ilona Langbroek's personal series "Silent Loss", which is based on her family's history in the former Dutch East Indies. The Netherlands has a long history with the Dutch East Indies, which leave all kinds of traces that are reminiscent of the vast but also complex colonial past between these two countries. In fact, her work is about the lost identity of the large number of people who were forced to leave their country after the Independence and their emotions regarding this loss which are dormant but still very much alive. 

 

Langbroek shoots purely intuitively based upon her memories of her grandmother: how she looked, her accent and tone of her voice. In addition, research is an important part of the work to find inspiration. By studying books, interviewing people from previous generations and scrutinizing old photo albums, Lang¬broek gets closer to the life of her grandparents in the Dutch East Indies. Furthermore, her ideas are re¬fined and elaborated in detail, in search of the right items, models, locations and clothing which are partly original antiques but were also specifically handmade based on her own ideas and designs.