Abstract

This paper explored the outcomes and lasting impact of a two-week artist workshop examining colonial photographic materials. Under the auspices of the Dutch Embassy in Indonesia and Langgeng Art Foundation that hosted the workshop,eleven international, multidisciplinary artists to creatively reflect upon colonial photographic practices in the Dutch East Indies looking at historical photographic and contextual material from the collections of the Tropenmuseum, the Rijksmuseum, the KITLV Archives and the National Gallery of Australia. These creative collective dialogues led to a unique cross-fertilisation of ideas, practices and media around the reconceptualisation of the colonial archive. To accommodate the diversity of material and practices, the exhibition of the works produced in the context of the workshop explored alternative modes of displaying historical and contemporary photographic material and artworks, creatively repurposing the digital archive and attempting to make these historical and conceptual interconnections accessible to academic, art, and non-specialist audiences.