Cara Louwman Photography

- B O O K   R O O T I N G -

b e c o m i n g  r o o t s

Cara and Yuen Yee - two sisters-in-law - embarked on a journey to investigate their relationship with their ancestors and how to bring their family histories into their own lives.

Cara's personal research was sparked by the heirlooms in her Dutch family - more specifically, an album containing photos of her great great-grandparents' house in Rotterdam and the Japanese prints on her mother's wall. What did they mean for her ancestors? What do they mean for her now? Working with these and other artefacts resulted in 'playing with her ancestors', a way to connect with the people who are no longer here.

For Yuen Yee the question was how to connect to both her Hong Kong-Chinese roots and her Dutch adopted roots without denying either. Because Yuen Yee did not have any heirlooms to work with, her research took her along oral family histories and family and public documents.

Despite the obvious differences between their histories Cara and Yuen Yee were able to discern general patterns. Neither of the families had a point of origin and neither of the families belonged to one specific place. Both families had been moving from one place to another, either within or across borders. 

We are made of the talents, failures, sorrows, fears and passions of our ancestors. And it is through these lived experiences that they are present in us.

R I J K S M U S E U M 

When you make something, it is never yours to begin with. It belongs to everyone. We bow in gratitude for our roots and are thankful to the RIJKSMUSEUM for taking up our book ROOTING in their Special Collections. It is now part of our collective roots and history, accessible to everyone.

Buy the book at selfpublishersunited.com