Sebastian Iksan Koudijzer

As a child, Sebastian was surrounded by 2 great-grandmothers, 2 grandfathers, 3 grandmothers and countless uncles and aunts from his Javanese-Surinamese side of the family. By bringing together different materials and media, Sebastian interweaves pieces of dislocated history, characterized by an imbalance of power. The camera functions as an exploration tool, looking for the nostalgic feelings like Gotong Royong. Collaboration is key in his practice, When he takes photographs, he tries to make the people in the photos as much a part of his research as possible. Together with his brother Tyler, he researches his family history, which he has also been presenting on stage in the form of theater since 2025. His photographic work has been exhibited at various festivals and museums, including the Fotomuseum Den Haag, Stedelijk Museum, BredaPhoto Festival, and Recontres Photographiques de Guyane. In May 2026, he visited Java for the first time—the place from which his great-grandparents departed as contract workers in 1928 and 1929. There, he met Inprogress Initiatives in Yogyakarta, with whom he co-produced the zine Atas Tanah.