From November 2020 until March 2021, Bending Benchmarks was shown at the AMC Brummelkamp Galerie, located inside the AMC Amsterdam hospital.

For this exhibition, I combined the photo series with contextual images: try-out photographs, archival materials, and photographs of the surrounding area.

Moengo is an interesting place in terms of cultural history. The city was founded as a result of the mining of bauxite, but now that the mines are depleted, there’s no longer a reason for Suralco, a subsidiary of the American Aluminum Company Alcoa, to remain present in the area. What remains are the abandoned and dilapidated luxury villas where the company’s management was housed, and other ambiguous remnants of the colonial era of Dutch-American profiteering. Contrasting these bygone times are the current inhabitants, who are building a new future for Moengo.
In Moengo, past and present are inextricably linked. I decided to provide insight into the town’s history through an exhibition of photographs of Moengo’s public space. The heritage of bauxite mining remains visible there, especially the luxury was derived from it. A tennis court in disrepair and an overgrown golf course exude this history. As a backdrop for the current population, they transform the photos into a critical look at what took place here.