Ancilla Van Leest [2024]

The memory belonged to Rembrandt van Rijn. And the woman he was painting was not his wife, Saskia. Not his mistress, Geertje. She was no one from the historical record.

It was her own name. Latin for "handmaid" or "female servant." But she had never believed it was her birth name. She had woken up in a field hospital in 2140 with no memories of her own—only a preternatural gift for organizing other people's.

Until the day the Directorate sent her the Rembrandt file. ancilla van leest

Van Leest’s style in the Tweede Kamer was characterized by directness and a refusal to engage in performative moralism. While she was a skilled orator, she often faced paternalistic or dismissive attitudes from colleagues in larger parties. Notably, a 2021 incident involving politician Sylvana Simons—who refused to shake Van Leest’s hand due to her past profession—highlighted the prejudice that remained within the political establishment. Van Leest handled the incident with composure, using it to underscore her platform: that one’s profession should not disqualify them from civic participation.

"And the second choice?"

She appeared on the cover of the Dutch edition of Playboy twice (June 2009 and September 2012) and became a recognized figure in erotic and fetish photography, often featuring in latex and high-fashion corsetry.

She was not the archivist. She was the archive. The memory belonged to Rembrandt van Rijn

Van de Leest’s interest in digital rights grew as she began to perceive mass surveillance and excessive data collection as fundamental threats to personal freedom.