Re-imagining Colonial Narratives of Trauma Through the (Post)colonial Museum Concept and Photographic Production of (A)lif/ve-Size Figures
When human presence is replicated in the form of life-size figures, it signifies profound cultural and political views about gender, race, and identity and, in the case of colonialism, a deeply violent narrative. These figures in museums depicting colonial history and representing human presence are often based on photographs and/or human (life) casts, which are frequently overlooked by their audiences as mere set pieces. However, they play a significant role in perpetuating problematic contextualizations and masking violent colonial narratives.
This PhD project explores the life-size figures in museums depicting colonial history, aiming to shed light on the violence they “endured”, both theoretically and physically, by asking: What insights do life-size figures, when considered ‘(A)lif/ve’ (alive and with a life), provide about embodied trauma and colonial violence when viewed through different photographic perspectives, and examined across different phases of their “lives”—from their conceptualization and production to their exhibitions and their physical ‘afterlives’?
The research focuses on three key areas: colonial museum politics, archives, and the physical "body" of the (A)lif/ve-size figure. Photography and photo archives serve as key resources for understanding (A)lif/ve-size figures and documenting their production, display, and preservation. Photographs are also approached as part of their personal life file, helping to understand them as emotional, physical, and historical subjects—revealing social interactions, displacement, and the physical memories embedded in the (A)lif/ve figures. Inspired by Ariella Azoulay's thoughts on the relation between photography and violence and Homi K. Bhabha's ideas about the transmission of barbarism through various knowledge systems, among others, this project reframes (A)lif/ve—size figures not as mere objects of a traumatic past but as living subjects that continuously embody, endure, and transmit the discourse of colonial violence. Through (visual) methodologies such as archival activation, forensic anthropology, and critical ethnography, this research project repositions photography as the central tool for reflection, documentation, and memory. This provides input for a disruptive narrative best described as radical fiction, with a strong re-imaginative approach inspired by the concept of ‘critical fabulation’ as coined by writer Sayida Hartman, which combines historical research with critical theory and fictional narratives. The life of the (A)lif/ve-size figure is voiced, animated, and reconstructed through this reimagined existence that reflects and witnesses a dispersed reality of violence.
Sara Blokland (1969, NL) is a visual artist, independent researcher, and curator focused on photography. Her work explores the complex dynamics between photography and (post)colonial cultural histories. Blokland holds a BA in scenography and photography from the Rietveld Academy, an MFA from the Sandberg Institute, and an MA in Film and Photographic Studies from Leiden University.
Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Kumho Museum in Seoul and the Stedelijk Museum, and is part of several collections such as the Stedelijk Museum, the Netherlands Photo Museum, and the ABN AMRO collection. She has published the artist book Van Waarde (2008) and co-edited Unfixed: Photography and Post-Colonial Perspectives in Contemporary Art (2012). As a curator, she has worked on exhibitions such as "Unfixed" (2009), "Srefidensi" (2015-2017), and "Contemporary Caribbean Perspectives" (2020).
Sara currently teaches photography and research at Art Academy Utrecht, is a practice supervisor at the MA Photography and Society at the KABK, and is a lecturer at the minor “Creative Strategies for Societal Change” at Leiden University.