There Was Something Here Before – Zahira Asmal at Erasmus Huis

There Was Something Here Before is an interactive multimedia exhibition by South African urbanist Zahira Asmal, on at Erasmus Huis in Kuningan from 3 October to 23 December 2026.

For more than three centuries Cape Town and Indonesia have been linked by the movement of people across the Indian Ocean, and many of those who built Cape Town were exiled or enslaved people from the Indonesian archipelago. The exhibition follows that connection back to where it began, combining research, archival material, photography, sound, art, personal testimony and interactive design.

Asmal directs The City, an independent research, publishing and place-making agency she founded in 2010; the exhibition is part of her ongoing project See, which looks at how cities are made and who has access to them.

Entry is free. Erasmus Huis says all its events are open to the public; check its website for gallery opening hours before you go.

Getting there: Erasmus Huis is at Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Kav. S-3, Kuningan, South Jakarta, served by TransJakarta corridor 6 along Jl. Rasuna Said.