assignment: to honour a unique book
with a version that you can walk through
Multatuli wrote his Max Havelaar 150 years ago: an indictment of the exploitation of the colonies in general and of the small Javanese coffee farmer in particular. The social and political impact of the book was enormous, and remains topical to this day.
Tinker developed the concept for the exhibition about this renowned book and created the design.
Visitors follow Multatuli’s way of thinking by becoming acquainted with Saidja, Adinda and the Javanese elite. They epitomized the antitheses of that time: the rich and powerful as opposed to the poor and subservient. They then get to know the archetypes from his novel en hun belangen: the conscientious Sjaalman juxtaposed against the rational and businesslike Droogstoppel or the hypocritical Slijmering. Archetypes that are timeless and therefore still recognizable today. The exhibition’s last room demonstrates the topicality: Max Havelaar products, fair trade and globalization. How far does the influence of ‘the max’ extend?