Most tea companies are currently in the hands of Chinese (as is the tobacco industry). I collected packages of Javanese tea which are still available. The package designs are derived from the colonial period, mixing Dutch, Javanese and Chinese elements. I made three jackets out of these emblems, with sleeves that connect each of the jackets. The connection represents three generations of family businesses. Nowadays family businesses are disappearing rapidly amidst global developments.
The title, Heeren van de Thee, is inspired by Hella Haassen’s novel, which is set in the colonial Dutch era, and concerns the lives of Dutch planters’ families who exploit tea plantations in the Preanger (west Java) region.