Australian and international artists have created original works to bring to life the history of the Dutch East India Company for a new exhibition opening in Fremantle this week.
First Encounters: Artist Interventions with the VOC Shipwrecks features works inspired by rare archives and objects from the Dutch East India Company or Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, dating back to the 17th century and giving voice to untold stories from a complex colonial past.
The exhibition is inspired by the global research project Mobilising Dutch East India Company Collections for New Global Stories, which began at The University of Western Australia in 2023 and connects Australian collections to a worldwide network of museums including the Rijksmuseum (Netherlands), British Museum (UK), Vasa Museum (Sweden) and Iziko Museums (South Africa).
Image: Arvi Wattel, Dr Corioli Souter, Diyan Achjadi and Paul Uhlmann.
The exhibition has been curated by Arvi Wattel, from UWA’s School of Design, and Dr Corioli Souter, Head Maritime Heritage at the Western Australian Museum.
Mr Wattel said they had examined how limited knowledge and cultural assumptions shaped early depictions of Australia.
“This exhibition highlights history from our colonial past, which is still an important discussion today, as well as giving people the opportunity to reflect on the past in a new light,” Mr Wattel said.
The artworks are creative responses to the 17th and 18th century archives, which feature an array of artefacts, from the commanding hull of the 1629 shipwreck of the infamous Batavia, to everyday objects such as pottery fragments and pipes.
Dr Souter said each artefact embodies the complex legacy of Dutch colonial expansion.
“Objects of everyday use became witnesses to shipwreck, survival, massacre and cultural encounter helping shape history and now art,” Dr Souter said.
The exhibition features work by Yindjibarndi artist Katie West, who draws attention to the constructs of race within the archives; Canadian-Indonesian artist Diyan Achjadi, who interrogates the nature of power wielded by colonial authority and its devastating cost; American multidisciplinary artist Beatrice Glow, whose work brings visibility to untold stories often overshadowed by the forces of colonialism, migration and inequality; and Australian artist Paul Uhlmann, who is captivated by the handwritten journal of Francesco Pelsaert, which recounts the harrowing story of the Batavia shipwreck.
The exhibition is on at the WA Shipwrecks Museum on Cliff Street in Fremantle from 28 November 2025 to 1 February 2026. For more information click here.
Mobilising Dutch East India Company Collections for New Global Stories is an Australian Research Council Funded project.