In recent decades, our understanding of archives has evolved beyond the familiar, institutional archive carefully tended to by a small group of trained professionals. Movements such as...Show moreIn recent decades, our understanding of archives has evolved beyond the familiar, institutional archive carefully tended to by a small group of trained professionals. Movements such as postcolonialism and postcustodialism, combined with the digital turn, have allowed interest in other, less conventional forms of archiving to emerge. As such, the concept of an archival continuum (that is, the understanding of archives as evolving and participatory systems rather than fixed institutions) has been accepted by archival scholarship. This thesis investigates whether printed family memoirs that incorporate visual material from family archives can be placed along said archival continuum. Four such memoirs – The Hare with Amber Eyes (2010), In Memory of Memory (2018), Heimat: A German Family Album (2018), and Letters to Camondo (2021) – have been selected as case studies by which to examine their potential archival and evidentiary value. Each memoir is a work of postmemory – following Marianne Hirsch, the authors are processing generational trauma passed down as a result of the Holocaust. I argue that it is not only the narratives that lend them archival value, but also their inclusion of archival material. As I will show, understanding published memoirs as archives supports an expanded recognition of non-professional memory work as archival. Importantly, the increased accessibility of published memoirs to a general audience versus that of conventional archives allows for greater interaction with the preserved objects, and so aids in supporting the societal memorialization of the Holocaust. By focusing on the paper editions of the books, I am able to examine the unique benefits and challenges of the printed book as a form of accessible archive and memory object.Show less
Memories play a significant role when forming an individual's sense of identity and understanding of past events. Even though memories are normally associated with lived personal and shared...Show moreMemories play a significant role when forming an individual's sense of identity and understanding of past events. Even though memories are normally associated with lived personal and shared collective experiences, certain memories do not fall under such categorizations. The concept of postmemory, introduced by literary scholar Marianne Hirsch, aims to describe the inheritance of memories and trauma that are not experienced by the individuals themselves. Instead, acquired through stories and images shared by the previous generations, these experiences are passed on, thus eventually becoming part of people's identities. This research focuses on addressing the extent to which the use of postmemory provides new interpretative insights regarding the depiction of memories and trauma in the works of Australian-Latvian artist Imants Tillers (1950). By basing the theoretical framework in the fields of art history and memory studies, this thesis reveals how postmemory can be recognized in Tillers' conceptual project The Book of Power (1981-present) and what are some of the interpretative possibilities this concept can offer in visual analysis. The analyses concentrate on the large-scale paintings Farewell to Reason (1996), Monaro (1998), Terra Negata (2005), and Tabula Rasa (For My Father) (2011) that provide fruitful grounds for recognizing manifestations of intergenerational and transgenerational postmemory in these artworks.Show less
In een poging tot het verwezenlijken van een indruk van het Israëlische volk werkte Brenner van 1978 tot 2003 aan een fotoproject wat resulteerde in het fotoboek Diaspora: Homelands in Exile (2003)...Show moreIn een poging tot het verwezenlijken van een indruk van het Israëlische volk werkte Brenner van 1978 tot 2003 aan een fotoproject wat resulteerde in het fotoboek Diaspora: Homelands in Exile (2003). In dit onderzoek wordt een van de foto’s uitgelicht om de relatie tot het herdenken van de Holocaust te onderzoeken. Het gaat hierbij om Survivors (1991): een portretfoto van vier Holocaustoverlevenden. Zij staan gericht met hun getatoeëerde identificatienummers uit het concentratiekamp Auschwitz in beeld. Binnen de traditie van Holocaustherdenking worden er verschillende media ingezet. Israëlische nabestaanden herdenken hun voorouders door diens identificatienummers ook te laten tatoeëren. Hiermee wordt de huid als nieuw medium voor herdenking geïntroduceerd. Wat betekent dit voor een foto als Survivors? Het doel van dit onderzoek is inzichtelijk maken welke positie de foto binnen de traditie van de Holocaustherdenking inneemt.Show less
