Two generations of artists trace the legacies of Chinese-Indonesian identity, memory, and diaspora.
Buro Stedelijk presents Names in Our Veins, bringing together FX Harsono, a seminal figure in Indonesian contemporary art, and Amsterdam-based Vincent Ruijters—one who witnessed this history and one who inherited its consequences.
For over five decades, Harsono has confronted political injustice with a particular focus on the erasure and persecution of Chinese-Indonesians. Ruijters, who has Dutch and Chinese-Indonesian ancestry, searches for what remains when that history is inherited.
Featuring landmark works by Harsono alongside a newly commissioned spatial installation by Ruijters, the exhibition traces how history is carried through names, family stories, and how its echoes continue to be felt in the present.
What runs in our veins?
The names we inherit. The histories we carry.
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image: Fx Harsono, "Writing in the Dark Rain", film still -
image: Design by Tulip Utomo -
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image: FX Harsono, "Writing in the Rain" at Times Square New York, 2018 Midnight Moment -
image: FX Harsono, "Rewriting on the Tomb", 2013 -
image: Vincent Ruijters, at his grandmother's grave in Pariaman, research for the new commission Kuburan -
image: FX Harsono, "Rewriting on the Tomb", 2013 -
image: FX Harsono -
image: Vincent Ruijters
FX Harsono (b. 1949) is a pioneering Indonesian contemporary artist whose practice has continually challenged the country's political, social and cultural landscape. Known for his performance, video, installations and paintings, his works invites viewers to reconsider historical narratives. In 2014 he received the Prince Claus Award.
Vincent Ruijters (b. 1986) is an Amsterdam-based artist whose large-scale spatial installations combine poetic, conceptual and technological approaches. His work explores intimacy and belonging across cultures. Ruijters holds a PhD in Intermedia Art from the Tokyo University of the Arts.
Supported by Gemeente Amsterdam, Ammodo, Fonds 21, Mondriaan Fund, Prince Claus Fund, and Bagri Foundation.
Open Daily
10:00-18:00
DATE: 3 Sep 2026
TIME: 18:30–21:00
Book your free ticket here
Join us for drinks and a conversation with the artists FX Harsono and Vincent Ruijters. Enter via the Buro Stedelijk entrance at Paulus Potterstraat 13, 1071 CX Amsterdam.
See you there!
During regular exhibition hours, entrance is via the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam main entrance
A regular museum entrance ticket required. For more information please visit https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/tickets
Wheelchair accessible. For more details please visit this page.
Jo-Lene Ong
Anouk van Amsterdam
Rosalie Peeperkorn
Jody Behre, Popkraft
Tulip Utomo
Gemeente Amsterdam, Ammodo, Fonds 21, Mondriaan Fund, Prince Claus Fund, Bagri Foundation.
buro@burostedelijk.nl
