Spectres of Colonialism in Contemporary Art from Denmark
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Spectres of Colonialism in Contemporary Art from Denmark. / Petersen, Anne Ring.
In: Art History, Vol. 43, No. 2, 01.04.2020, p. 258-283.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Spectres of Colonialism in Contemporary Art from Denmark
AU - Petersen, Anne Ring
PY - 2020/4/1
Y1 - 2020/4/1
N2 - In the 2000s, postcolonial critique effectively changed the agendas of contemporary art and art history, not least in Denmark where several artists began to engage with the local history of colonialism, the question of Denmark's share in the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel slavery, and the continued effects of colonialism on contemporary societies. After outlining such activities on the Danish art scene, this essay focuses on Jeannette Ehlers and Nanna Debois Buhl, two Copenhagen‐based artists who have made the history of the Danish West Indies (now the US Virgin Islands) the topic of several video works. I propose that their perceptions of Danish colonialism and its effects on the islands are very different. Therefore, their works need to be analysed within different frameworks: in Buhl's case, a combined postcolonial and critical whiteness studies perspective; in Ehlers's case, a combined decolonial and postcolonial perspective. Furthermore, a postmigrant perspective is introduced to provide a frame for understanding how closely the critique of (Danish) colonialism ties in with pluralization processes in society at large.
AB - In the 2000s, postcolonial critique effectively changed the agendas of contemporary art and art history, not least in Denmark where several artists began to engage with the local history of colonialism, the question of Denmark's share in the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel slavery, and the continued effects of colonialism on contemporary societies. After outlining such activities on the Danish art scene, this essay focuses on Jeannette Ehlers and Nanna Debois Buhl, two Copenhagen‐based artists who have made the history of the Danish West Indies (now the US Virgin Islands) the topic of several video works. I propose that their perceptions of Danish colonialism and its effects on the islands are very different. Therefore, their works need to be analysed within different frameworks: in Buhl's case, a combined postcolonial and critical whiteness studies perspective; in Ehlers's case, a combined decolonial and postcolonial perspective. Furthermore, a postmigrant perspective is introduced to provide a frame for understanding how closely the critique of (Danish) colonialism ties in with pluralization processes in society at large.
KW - Faculty of Humanities
KW - Contemporary art
KW - Danish colonialism
KW - transcultural entanglements
KW - video art
KW - postcolonialism
KW - postmigration
U2 - 10.1111/1467-8365.12496
DO - 10.1111/1467-8365.12496
M3 - Journal article
VL - 43
SP - 258
EP - 283
JO - Art History
JF - Art History
SN - 0141-6790
IS - 2
ER -
ID: 239128576