On August 15, 2025, the exhibition "Mijn liefste Teun" (My Dearest Teun) opens at the Penningsfoundation in Eindhoven, a presentation platform and knowledge center for photography. The opening will take place from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM and is free of charge.
Featuring more than forty staged photographs, original diary entries, and a rare personal perspective, the exhibition offers a compelling glimpse into daily life in the Japanese women's internment camp Tjideng in the former Dutch East Indies. The exhibition is based on the story of Tahné's grandmother, Pieta Kleijn, who gave birth to her first child, Ton, during internment. In the camp, notorious for its appalling conditions, the baby grew up without medical care, with insufficient food, and under the constant supervision of the Japanese occupying forces.
Between fear and the will to survive, Pieta risked her own life by writing two diaries and a baby book to share with her husband—who was unaware of his son's existence—the young life that was beginning without him. "My grandmother wasn't a hero, wasn't a resistance fighter. She was a young mother trying to survive," says Tahné Kleijn. "But the power of this story lies precisely in her vulnerability and honesty. With My Dearest Teun, I want to break the silence that so many with a history in Indonesia have grown up with."
The exhibition makes the stories from the women's camp tangible and relatable through a combination of historical research, personal family archives, and carefully stylized photography. The result is a striking visual narrative in which the past and present intertwine. Kleijn is not only the photographer but also plays the leading roles in the series, along with her two children.
The exhibition opening on August 15th – exactly 80 years after
Japan's surrender – is open to the public from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
Location: Pennings Foundation, Geldropseweg 63, Eindhoven
Date: 15 August - 22 November 2025