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Indigo reappears in Farah Rahman’s botanical research which includes a cinematic installation, archival materials, recipes and written reflections. Diapositives rhythmically rotate on a slide projector, transferring images of plants on the walls. Entitled Grantangi Plant Medicine (Thank you plant medicine), Rahman’s work honours the ancestors who revered the healing power of plants, invoking their guidance. The artist imbues meaning into the indigo-blue colour, which she employs as a protective shield.

‘Creole Surinamese people have a tradition of taking herbal baths with the indigofera plant to protect themselves against evil spirits’, Rahman writes in a text accompanying the work. ‘We were washed in blue waters as babies. It connects to our hybrid identity’. She also traces the historical journey of indigo, highlighting its presence on Surinamese plantations due to the forced displacement of enslaved people from Africa. Collecting the plants and medicinal mushrooms locally in the Hague, Rahman seeks to revive  forgotten practices, strengthening her ties with her ancestors and embracing the resilience inherent in these practices and traditions.

Amber Toorop’s work resembles a home setting, with three visual stories displayed on surrounding walls. I am especially drawn to an image of a couple in a notebook. Are they in love, could they be someone’s parents? My mind fills in the gap, as it’s only the outlines of the protagonists that can be seen. Constructed landscapes, crafted from collaged photographs, offer the sense of calmness that looking at nature brings. Adorning the walls are also portraits, family groupings and daily life scenes, sketches of houses and settlements, photographs of plants, gardens and forests, watery surfaces, foggy areas, and a close-up of the Morning Star Flag: a symbol of independence from colonial rule.

The selection of conversations from Grandchildren of the East Indies: the diverse third generation delves into the experiences of Dutch individuals in their twenties and thirties with roots in the former Dutch East Indies. These discussions on home and belonging trigger questions about how situated experiences may translate into other environments. Facing towards the absent fourth wall, one can see Stroom’s window overlooking a busy street, with cars, bikes and people passing by. What fosters a sense of shared belonging among all these diverse cohabitants of the city, transcending language barriers and cultural backgrounds?

Yaïr Callender’s work aims to dissolve the boundaries of existing mental frameworks. His large-scale spatial assemblages bring together various references and associations such as amulets, portals, wood, furniture, celestial bodies, skeletons, stones and weapons. Alongside, two sculptures with wooden axes are adorned with stones. Eugenie Boon’s gentle artworks Guera sin chincha (Going to war unarmed) evoke a sense of humanity amidst the rolling chaos of exploitative capitalism, where expectations soar while our bodies remain the same. The artist is presenting an installation resembling a game board accompanied by an explanatory textile piece. During Boon’s performance Heart of the matter is the matter of the hearth, the playing field was transformed into a stage.

The artists in Soft Intimacies share a wish for contact outside rationalized realms, beyond the known and accepted, the exhibition strives for intimacies that present themselves as gentle forms of resistance, and most of all, as an invitation to kindness.