Virtual

Exhibition

2022

“traumatic heritages” and “victim-perpetrator dualities”.

Objects and Stories is a research exhibition that combines objects of trauma with personal stories and oral histories from witnesses and subsequent generations to shed light on the complexities of trauma, (post)-remembering, and heritage narratives in the present. Recounted through the lens of object biographies, these personal stories encompass several cases of traumatic pasts connected to the Netherlands such as the Second World War, the Srebrenica genocide, and colonial heritage to re-imagine what constitutes “traumatic heritages” and “victim-perpetrator dualities”. A photo series alongside statements from their owners depicts these significant objects in their original contexts: the homes of the storytellers. In re-contextualizing these intimate stories within the public space, namely the University of Amsterdam, this exhibition illustrates how the private and the public space permeate each other. In this way, we aim to shed light on private memories and connect them with larger public narratives around traumatic heritages.

Curatorial Statement

Through furniture and decorative elements typically found in domestic spaces, we evoke the interior of spaces of memory, create a window into intimate stories and draw upon the reality that objects within our uniquely individual lives tell our histories and those of our ancestors. The aim of this exhibition is to unpack individual traumatic experiences in relation to collective spaces of memory, as well as the dynamics of the inter-generational transmission of and identification with such memories. Visitors are offered a space to reflect and contemplate on what objects they have in their own intimate spaces that help tell the stories of their individual histories, pasts, and traumatic heritages: how are competing narratives of the past negotiated and reconfigured in archives, cultural practices, and public spaces? Why and how do we remember traumatic histories? Who remembers and who forgets, and how are memories narrated, silenced, or forgotten?

Video Credits: Julia van Braak, 2021.

Case studies

Jeanne Helling

This case study explores the marriage certificate of Jeanne Helling’s parents to shed light on the traumatic heritage of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia.

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Mathijs van Roon

This case study explores Mathijs’ statue of a satay salesman to shed light on the traumatic heritage of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia.

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Dayant Ramkalup

This case study examines a traditional Surinamese-Hindustani instrument called the dholak to uncover the traumatic heritage of slavery in Suriname.

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Roan de Lisle

This case study focuses on Roan’s book We Slaves of Suriname by Anton de Kom to uncover the traumatic heritage of slavery in Suriname.

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Nicole Kuiper

This case study looks at Nicole Kuiper’s object of traumatic heritage: invisible absence. Through the lack of any object, the violence of Dutch colonial heritage in Indonesia becomes visible, and alternative ways of remembering trauma are illuminated.

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