The great estrangement: East-West 1945-1950

Ian Buruma and Ad van Liempt talk to Godfried van Run about a crucial episode in our history: 1945-1950. The Indonesian Linda Christanty begins with her view on that period in which Indonesia broke away from the Netherlands. In Dutch.

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Information

Date and time Saturday 18 January 2014 20:00 tot 20:50 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - Zaal 1

We plunge into a crucial episode in our history: 1945-1950. WOII had ended, but in the former Dutch East Indies the struggle which went hand in hand with colonisation was still raging vehemently. Ian Buruma looks into East-West relations in 1945 in his latest book The Year Zero. In January Ad van Liempt publishes his After Liberation: the Bad Years between 1945-1950, a book and a seven-part tv series in which he deals with the changing relation between the Netherlands and the former Dutch East Indies. The Indonesian writer Linda Christanty opens the programme with her view on that period, which changed the balance of power for good and Indonesia breaking away from the Netherlands. In Dutch.

Ad van Liempt

(Utrecht, NL 1949) is the author of various non-fiction books on WWII and a maker of television programmes. He was editor-in-chief of Nova (a Dutch current affairs programme) and fouder and editor-in-chief of Andere Tijden, a history programme on Dutch national tv, heading the history department. He also headed the history department of NPS (Dutch public television). He wrote the script and did the final editing of the tv series De oorlog (The War). Previously he wrote Kopgeld, a shocking and revealing book on the activities of Jew hunters in 1943. In 2009 he was elected historian of the year. In January 2014 his new book appears: Na de bevrijding - de loodzware jaren 1945-1950 (After liberation - the difficult years 1945-1950). The book accompanies the seven-episode television series which NTR is broadcasting from January 2014.
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Ian Buruma

(The Hague, NL, 1951) is a sinologist, japanologist, journalist and writer. Asian culture, democracy, religion, politics, Islamic fundamentalism, and the aftermath of World War II are returning subjects in his vast body of work. His essays have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The GuardianNRC and The New York Review of Books. Buruma grew up in The Hague, the child of a British mother and a Dutch father. His book Their Promised Land: My grandparents in times of love and war tells the story of his London-born, German-Jewish grandparents. He has been a professor of democracy, human rights and journalism in New York since 2003. He received the Erasmus Prize in 2008.
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Linda Christanty

(Indonesia, 1970) is a writer and a journalist. In her work the violence in Indonesia is a leitmotiv. In her book Jangan Tulis Kami Teroris (Don't portray us as terrorists) she not only highlights the religious, political and gender themes in her own country, but also scrutinises other south-east Asian countries. She has won many prizes: among others the Human Rights Award for the best essay. Recently she was recipient of the prestigious South-East-Asia Literature Prize 2013. In Tongkat Sultan (The Sultan's Stick) she tells about the thirty-year old conflict in Aceh, the social political situation and the peace process after the tsunami. Part of this novel was adapted for opera and performed at the World PEN Forum in Japan. In 2009 she was, together with Christine Otten, Antjie Krog (South Africa) and Gündüz Vassaf (Turkey) a guest at the International Literature Festival Morocco, on behalf of Writers Unlimited. She is now working on a novel about the tensions and conflicts of post-Suharto Indonesia.
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Godfried van Run

(Bloemendaal, NL 1953) is a reporter, producer, editor of radio and television programmes and one of the trusted voices of the Dutch tv channel 2. As a 16-year-old he recorded commercials for among others Pelicano pens and Yamaha mopeds. He wanted to become a child psychologist but after his psychology studies he ended up at IKON radio and tv doing his alternative national service. In the 1980s he became desk editor at VPRO, where he did voice-overs. Later he was asked to become the VPRO's tv voice. As the promos were partly done at NPO he eventually became the voice of the Dutch Channel 2. In addition Van Run is active as a director, anthologist, and interviewer for various television and radio programmes of VPRO and NTR. From the very first beginning he has worked for the radio history programme Andere Tijden and now coordinates history at VPRO and NTR.
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