Biography

My name is Cisco Lekatompessy, AKA Hyang. I'm an artist from Venlo, currently residing in Amsterdam. My work focuses on social issues on both a national and international scale. Primarily, I create written pieces, navigating between romanticized poetry and harsh reality, however I also utilize other art forms as long as they serve as suitable mediums.


Stemming from my background as a Dutch person with Moluccan and Indonesian roots, the question marks surrounding my identity have always been the driving force behind my creative expression. As I strive to reach a point of understanding, a place of peace and stability.


This is also reflected in my professional career as a branding expert and trend forecaster where I work with brand identities. As an artist, I primarily work as a researcher and philosopher, focused on the connections between society and individuals, and what happens to a person's identity within that context. I don't answer questions, I pose them and suggest a perspective.

Understanding is the foundation when you want to build something well, and you yourself are the most important building in the city called your life. If you want to know who you are, I think the best place to start is by dissecting yourself to learn how to put yourself back together again. Explore what you are made of, in the now.

I myself consist of a multitude of experiences, both good and bad, and multiple ethnicities. Each experience is a brick, and my background gives them shape. The extent to which they are interconnected cannot be underestimated. Almost all of our qualities, traumas, inspirations, and reactions can be traced back to our upbringing, family, and therefore also our nationality.

Each brick weighs the same but the shape is different. 

Because I am Moluccan, I had difficulty truly believing and trusting people because the Dutch state lied to all Moluccans and treated them so poorly. Because I am Indonesian, I have let others walk all over me because I adhered to 'Indisch Zwijgen' (Indonesian silence). Because I am Dutch, I still felt the guilt of colonization within me, even though part of me was also victimized. Where does that leave me?

Moreover, the Dutch oppressed the Indonesians and Moluccans, but in Indonesia the Indonesian government oppresses the Moluccans, and when the Moluccans arrived in the Netherlands and were put in camps, they began to oppress the Javanese who were also in those camps and were the minority there.

As if every origin within me was waging war with each other on all sides. All the commotion caused cracks in the walls of my house, the bricks began to break. How can someone consist only of conflicts? Wouldn't you just fall apart? 

How do I make myself unbreakable?
Each brick carries a question. When this causes too much unrest, the brick breaks, but if it gets peace, the brick becomes stable, making the house stronger. We don't have to change the bricks. We just have to understand them, hear them, and see what is needed to strengthen them. And don't forget the connection between them, the cement. After all, we consist of everything that makes us and connects us.

With this project, I am building my house.