SHIFT: Coal Traces - My Past
What connects a mining town in Limburg with an old colony in Indonesia? Discover the story that links traces of past and present in this edition of SHIFT.
Where
SCHUNCK Glaspaleis
Price
€ 0,-
On Sunday afternoon, 22 February, the second edition of SHIFT will take place. This edition focuses on the presentation Coal traces: Clouds over Sawahlunto. Photographer Jonathan Widdershoven and Alderman Casper Gelderblom will discuss the mining history of Heerlen and Indonesia, and what this shared past still means today. The conversation will be opened by André de Bruin, chairman of the Waringin Foundation. Led by moderator Dymphy Braun, the session emphasizes encounter: exchanging stories, perspectives, and insights, with room for questions and dialogue with the audience.
Coal traces: Clouds over Sawahlunto
What at first seems like two distant mining towns is in fact historically closely connected. This discovery emerged through the presentation Coal traces, in which Jop Vermeesch revealed a direct link between Heerlen and Sawahlunto, a former mining town in West Sumatra, Indonesia.
To further explore and visualize this connection, Jop traveled with photographers Lara Gasparotto and Jonathan Widdershoven, and producer Gert-Jan van Stiphout, to Sawahlunto. During this journey, traces of the colonial mining past were documented — both in the landscape and in the lives of the people living there today.
Jonathan Widdershoven
For Jonathan Widdershoven, this story is also personal. Raised in Vrieheide, a former mining neighborhood in Heerlen, he also has family ties to Indonesia, where his relatives live in Jakarta. He documented the journey, connecting the collective mining past with his own background and personal history in his work.
Casper Gelderblom
Casper Gelderblom, Alderman of Heerlen, has long studied the international connections of mining history. Through historical research, he mapped the relationships between Heerlen, Sawahlunto, and other mining regions, including South Africa. His perspective shows how local mining history is part of a larger global system.
About SHIFT
SHIFT creates a generational table where experiences, stories, and ideas come together. Not to repeat the familiar, but to open up the conversation: what does it mean today to be of Indonesian or Moluccan heritage? What do we carry with us in our art, our style, our language — and how do we shape that ourselves?
SHIFT aims to give space to a new generation of makers, thinkers, dreamers, and doers. With respect for what came before, but with an open view toward what lies ahead. Whether you are an artist, performer, activist, designer, student, or simply someone with a story, everyone is welcome to join.
Together, we bring the conversation to life — about where we come from and where we want to go.