Om may 1st 1963, the authority of Dutch New Guinea was handed over to Indonesia (after a brief period under UN control). At the time it was very disappointing for The Netherlands, since this was the last little tail of the colonial grandeur in the east, most of which was lost after Dutch Indonesia had to be given up following the second World War. This film is a comment on how the Dutch presented themselves, as the people who would bring the Papua’s from the stone age into the 20th century (if I find the time I will add English subtitles). The film was made with Willem Peter Meeuwissen, and with the support of various museums and institutions. It is made entirely out of archive and propaganda material. It was presented for the first time october 1st 2012 at museum and residency for the former Dutch East-Indian military Bronbeek in Arnhem, where a monument for Papua’s who have fought in the small war with the Indonesians was presented. It was impressive to share it with hundreds of Dutch Veterans and Papua’s who have witnessed this fascinating history first hand.

WAAR NOG ZOVEEL TE DOEN IS

een klankbeeld over Nederlands Nieuw-Guinea
concept en geluid: Ivo Bol
beeld: Willem Peter Meeuwissen
Tot stand gekomen met hulp van:
Koninklijk Tehuis voor Oud-Militairen en Museum Bronbeek
Mariniersmuseum Rotterdam
Legermuseum Delft

met dank aan:
Hans van den Akker
Loes Barnard
Jan van den Boogaard
Casper van Bruggen
Marjan Groen
Sjoerd Jaarsma
Nancy Jouwe
Kees Maaswinkel
Ad Plante
Niek Ravensbergen
Andreas Schelfhout
Annelies Visser
Annegriet Wietsma
Stichting Papoea cultureel erfgoed

beeldrechten:
Beeld en Geluid Hilversum
Ad Plante
Legermuseum Delft
geluid gerealiseerd in Studio Bol
beeldmontage: W.P. Meeuwissen media
© KAIDER PRODUCTIONS 2012

Beeld: Eva Wijers, muziek: Ivo Bol, in samenwerking met choreografe Michelle Kurzenacker. Oorspronkelijk gemaakt voor Vroegbloeiers 2011, een voorstelling van de afstuderende dansklassen van het Thorbecke Voortgezet Onderwijs in Rotterdam. Opgevoerd op 26 april 2011 in de Rotterdamse Schouwburg.

“Two Old Guys and a Relatively Young Man”, a performance by Luis Lara Malvacias / 3RD CLASS CITIZEN. A trio for three male dancers and a musician performed live. 16. – 18. august 2012 Lille Carl Dansehallerne Copenhagen, Denmark. Music: Ivo Bol performers: Luis Lara Malvacías, Jeremy Nelson and Francis Stansky.

On may 30th I was in Deurne at the Reunion of the 41e Nieuw-Guinea bataljon Stoottroepen, infantry forces who had to defend Dutch New Guinea from Indonesian infiltrants in 1962, when we fought for and lost our last piece of colony in the East. This subject has interested me since I studied history and wrote my thesis on the subject of Dutch development policy in New Guinea. In 2012 it will be 50 years since the handover to the UN, and finally to Indonesia. After a fraudulent referendum in 1969 New Guinea became officially part of the Republic of Indonesia. Sadly the Papua’s have gotten a very bad deal, the Indonesian government has never really put much effort in developing the region or sharing the wealth of the natural resources. Not that the Dutch really had any legitimate claims to any of their colonies, but they did promise the Papua’s democracy and independence just before they left. I am preparing my work for a composition with historic audio and film material from Dutch New Guinea, which will premiere october 1st at Bronbeek in Arnhem.

I am interested in the image that the Dutch had of themselves, how they justified their colonial status and how the people that were involved look back on that. It was great talking to the old soldiers. All of them feel very bad for leaving the Papua’s after they have just been promised a concrete path to Independence. The mood at the reunion was warm, a bit melancholic. More than 300 people showed up, old soldiers, some with their wives. After the group photo there was a great performance of the Papuan Dance group Cendrawasih Papua.

Last month I was at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds to teach a sound / technology workshop, as part of the collaborative arts project of the graduating students. Above one of the students working with the Gametrak controller, more on that in a later post.

I stayed in a not very uplifting part of town called Holbeck.

Visiting Manchester for some cocktails, also it turns out it was Record Store Day, Manchester is a great place for that. The list my friend Jon is holding is about 20 pages like that, I kid you not, that is all the stuff he needs to listen to at some point in his life.

In Manchester I had the best Hunan food anywhere outside China. After my stay in Leeds I took a day to go to Malham, to the beauty of the Yorkshire Dales.

New film by new media artist and art activist Morehshin Allahyari. Sound design: Ivo Bol. Premiered at the Dallas Biennale april 13 2012.

“To build a land; an imaginary home. To push the limits of real and unreal, memory and imagination, locality and universality, self censorship and self- exile, time and space. To put together my most vivid memories on flat planes or 3D cubes. Inside and outside the empty rooms, rooms without bodies, rooms left behind. To construct the remembered, missed, identical objects. Things I care for,love the most, miss the most… To put together every five sense of my body into one (“sight”) through text and animation. A reflection and presentation of emotional attachments. Collective and personal.”

Morehshin is a very talented artist who I met at my stay at Denton during my residency last year.

From her site: Morehshin Allahyari is a new media artist and an art activist. She was born and raised in Iran and moved to the United States in 2007. Her creative and research interest encompasses 3D animation, digital filmmaking, web-art / design, performance and extensive activity as a curator and producer. The topics of her practice include the social, political and cultural issues of Iran, creative writing, art activism, media art, and collaborative art. Morehshin’s animated films and curatorial projects have received world wide acclaim. She has been part of exhibitions, festivals, and conferences in Tehran, Denver, Dallas (Dallas Biennale + oliver Francis Gallery), Chicago, New York, Germany (The 7th Berlin International Directors Lounge (Berlin) + 25th European Media Art Festival (Osnabrück), Virginia (The Taubman Museum of Art), San Francisco, Denton (University of North Texas), Portland, Ohio, Brazil, Sweden, Romania (Arad art Museum), Netherlands, and Canada.

Februari 18 2012

SnakeCharmers’ Ball at the Something Raw Festival, Expozaal Brakke Grond 18.00 – 22.00 hrs. Benoît Lachambre and SNDO Students Sound: Ivo Bol

Two short films made by my friend Willem Peter Meeuwissen. It is hard to explain sometimes to people how I make music, not sure if these films are helpful, but that was the intention.

In November 2011 I stayed at the Center for Experimental Music & Intermedia (CEMI), part of the Composition Studies of the University of North Texas in Denton TX, as a visiting composer. The residency was made possible with the support of the Netherland-America Foundation
and the Fonds Podiumkunsten

I had access to a great studio, equipped with a beautiful surround sound setup, being able to work undisturbed on my new setup. I recently bought a Yourock Midi guitar to control my ever changing setup consisting of LiSa,  a Nord Micro Modular  and Ableton Live. Even though it feels like a plastic toy guitar it turns out to be pretty cool controlling midi notes and cc data with it, especially since I did play guitar at some point in my life. I experimented with attaching a Wii mote and Nunchuck (data conversion by JunXion) to the guitar, enabling me to send more midi CC information when rocking out.

I concluded my stay in Denton with a concert with the new setup, performing my piece Amanda (originally made for this performance) in a surround sound installation an my composition Cosmological Flight in a 8 channel version.

Afterwards it was my great pleasure to visit New Orleans

My gracious hosts Dana Jessen and Mike Straus at a microbrewery, the day after our performance at the Blue Nile.