In this work, Benjamin Li explores the cultural significance of Chinese-Indonesian restaurants in the Netherlands. He collects photographs, menus, sugar packets, ceramics, beer glasses and other everyday objects that together tell a layered story about migration, community and recognition.
The work responds to the museum tradition of collecting and archiving. Whereas the SVD missionaries in China collected everyday objects with an exoticising gaze, Li reverses this: his archive is loving, personal and rooted in his own community. Instead of removing objects from their context, the Billy Li Bar remains connected to memories from the Chinese community in the Netherlands. In this way, the work asks: does it matter who collects, and in whose interest is it archived?
Discover this work for yourself in our museum, on display until 1 March 2026.
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