There is a certain part of Dutch-Japanese history that is not brought up as often: a treaty between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Ryūkyū (modern-day Okinawa), signed on the 6th...Show moreThere is a certain part of Dutch-Japanese history that is not brought up as often: a treaty between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Ryūkyū (modern-day Okinawa), signed on the 6th of July 1859 at Naha on Ryūkyū’s main island; a treaty that was signed after the Van Bosse shipwrecked near Ryūkyū in 1857 and shipwrecked passengers and sailors employed by a Dutch trading company were rescued and given shelter by Ryūkyūans. In fact, at least as far as English scholarship is concerned, this document appears to be ignored or forgotten by virtually everyone. This thesis contains historical context to the treaty and several related documents, a reflection on digital editions and encoding, a link to TEI-encoded versions of aforementioned archival material, and an analysis of the part of the corpus housed in the Leiden University Library. It closes with a promising lead for those wishing to continue researching this treaty.Show less
The ancient Egyptian mummies have been extensively portrayed throughout history, since the early inceptions of photography and cinema, and remain popular in visual culture. Certain ways of...Show moreThe ancient Egyptian mummies have been extensively portrayed throughout history, since the early inceptions of photography and cinema, and remain popular in visual culture. Certain ways of portraying them have been repeatedly followed like traditions, which resulted in establishing stereotypes. In this thesis, I investigate how some of these recurring portrayals dehumanise the ancient Egyptians. For this purpose, I have compiled an archive of photographs and films, and analysed their stereotypical portrayal patterns. In doing so, I have identified two traditions; the portrayal of mummies in non-fictional photographs as artefacts (artefication), and their portrayal in fictional films as monsters (monstrification). In two visual essays accompanying this thesis, I demonstrate how these traditions systematically deny the portrayed mummies essentially and uniquely human qualities, resulting in their dehumanisation. Further, I discuss their spectacularisation — inherent in their artefication and monstrification— and the mode of spectatorship evoked by the mummified body as a spectacle. The thesis thus aims to offer a critique on dehumanising portrayals of the ancient Egyptians, shedding light on the repercussions of the encounter with such images.Show less
The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate in how and why encyclopedic projects by archival based photographers, challenge and counter the figure of the digital database. The yearning for...Show moreThe main purpose of this thesis is to investigate in how and why encyclopedic projects by archival based photographers, challenge and counter the figure of the digital database. The yearning for collecting or ‘archive fever’ (as defined by Jacques Derrida) is still found in some contemporary art projects. Consequently, in a world where more and more objects, documents and photographs are stored digitally, the question remains why some photographers resort to the archive as their working method and continue to display their works through analogue techniques such as the book and the installation. In order to understand the working method these artists adopt, this thesis shares them under the position of ‘the-photographer-as-archivist’. This thesis considers two case studies, firstly Parallel Encyclopedia #1 (2007) by Batia Suter (1967) and secondly The Universal Photographer (2018) by Anne Geene (1983) and Arjan de Nooy (1965). Their projects are assessed visually as well as theoretically, using the method of visual research as proposed by Gillian Rose. This method bases itself on the three modalities of technology, composition and social elements that surround visual imagery. The research has shown that both of the explored works, contain anti-database characteristics such as physicality, materiality and narrativity as their most prominent features. This means that in terms of discourse they comment on the structure, active accumulation, the usage and functioning of the digital database.Show less
Starting out from the background of contemporary art practices in post-civil war Lebanon, this thesis investigates the complex negotations and deconstructions of the archive that Walid Raad´s...Show moreStarting out from the background of contemporary art practices in post-civil war Lebanon, this thesis investigates the complex negotations and deconstructions of the archive that Walid Raad´s project The Atlas Group is undertaking. The first chapter looks into the specific agency of montage that is being used in the work Let ́s be honest the weather helped. A transformative relationship between hiding and affirming is established here, which produces 'potentiality'. In a second step, I will analyse how the subjective nature of history writing is revealed by works in The Atlas Group. The theories of Hayden White will serve as a basis for this chapter. Jalal Toufic ́s concept of the withdrawal of tradition will provide a fundament the second section of this chapter as White and Toufic are going to be put in dialogue. Toufic argues that objects and documents happen to be 'withdrawn' after traumatic events - a unconventional notion that also is reverberating in some pieces by Walid Raad. Thirdly, authority and authorship will serve as two anchor points for further observations as these two are interdependent and integral to the questions, which The Atlas Group is raising. Fourthly, I will analyse how not only the incapability of the document to record 'the decisive' moment is revealed, but also how allusions to this imperceptible instance are being made - an interview Jean Francois Lyotard and Alain Pomarède will enable deeper understanding of these observations.Show less
This thesis examines the development of the Landsarchief (which is now known as the Arsip Nasional of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI), the archival institution of the Dutch East Indies since it...Show moreThis thesis examines the development of the Landsarchief (which is now known as the Arsip Nasional of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI), the archival institution of the Dutch East Indies since it was established on January 28, 1892 until the Japanese occupation in 1942. However, this thesis only focuses in the period of 1920s until early 1940s where the archives become more important not only for the government but also for the public. The process of establishing the Landsarchief did not go smoothly. It took years from the first proposal until it was finally approved in 1892. Its creation signified a new beginning to the archival development in the Dutch East Indies. From its inception until the Japanese occupation in 1942 and 1943, the Landsarchief experienced several internal reorganisations. The staff members of the Landsarchief played role in these reorganisations and in the decision making of the policies of the Landsarchief. This thesis also discuss the relationship between the Landsarchief of the Dutch East Indies with the ARA (Algemene Rijksarchief) in the Netherlands. As an archival institution that established in 1802, ARA shared many of its archival knowledge to the Landsarchief. Both of these archival institutions had a close relationship. In many occasions, before the Landsarchief emerged an policy or appointed a staff of the Landsarchief such as Landsarchivaris or Adjunct-Landarchivaris, the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies or the Algemene Secretaris as the person who were in charged in monitoring the activity of the Landsarchief often exchanged news and asked for advices from the Algemene Rijksarchivaris concerning the issues or problems that appeared in the Landsarchief. As a result of this, many of the policies were based on the advices of the Algemene Rijksarchivaris.Show less
