50/50, 2012
Holland, 2012
Koe Lo Yuk, 2019
Tja Daai Ha, 2022
Geroosterd Spek, 2024
Billy Li Bar
Menukaarten

The ability of migrants to adapt is also reflected in the work of Benjamin Li (Netherlands, 1985). His contribution shows both the resilience and the struggle associated with migration. The starting point in his work is the Chinese-Indonesian restaurant tradition his parents were part of after settling in the Netherlands. By blending this heritage with absurd humour, he exposes issues such as stereotyping and nationalism. The photographs of his parents in orange Holland shirts and the simplified self-portrait, composed of two halves of his parents’ faces, show the search for intercultural identity and the making of one’s own story. The Chinese-Indonesian restaurant exists only in the Netherlands, but is gradually disappearing from the Dutch cityscape. To honor and bring attention to this cultural phenomenon, Li mixes everyday expressions of the Chinese-Indonesian restaurant in sugar packets, rosettes, menus, and dishes into his art. For instance, the puzzle series of typical Chinese-Indonesian dishes, such as Koe Lo Yuk. The white puzzle pieces represent the disappearance of Chinese-Indonesian restaurants in the Netherlands. The total amount of those white pieces corresponds to Benjamin Li’s age and thus increases every year.