Leiden

Leiden

 

Date: 2001
Dimensions: L75m x W60cm x H2m
Media: Aluminium, galvanized mild steel, electrical component


This installation is part of a series of works commissioned by the Rijksakademie Voor Volkenkunde(Garden of Eden Project). My intention was to reflect upon the relationship between the colonial centre and the periphery (colony). I explored the historical relationship between the Netherlands and South Africa as a metaphorical example of these complex colonial relationships. I also wish to take note of the complexity of repositioning cultural artefacts within a postcolonial discourse. I collected a series of objects on a “colonial safari”, brought these back to South Africa, iconised them by transforming my “trophies” into durable material. Meticulous archival notes were kept about the provenance of each of the objects. This documentation was transformed into a travel journal which accompanies this work and is now lodged in the Museum Archive/Library, in addition to providing the information which also appears on the installation as inscribed information onto aluminium plates. Each object(s) is displayed in its own viewing station and is accompanied by a detailed explanation of the material and physical circumstances under which I collected/curated the artefact.

 

I used the Afrikaans language, a derivative of Dutch, as the theoretical text throughout the work as an abiding memory of the historical colonial relationship between Holland and South Africa.

 

Beneath the subtext of humour and the banality of fixing anthropological notions of the Other lies the important scrutiny of race and identity and all the power relationships attached to that.