Public Project
To Taste a Bittersweet History
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) colonised Sri Lanka between 1658 and 1796. In their efforts to secure a monopoly on the cinnamon trade they transformed the landscape and culture of Sri Lanka, leaving traces visible today. I use the historical importance of cinnamon as a point of departure, to generate a critical dialogue that unpacks some of the forgotten stories and violent histories from this period.
‘To taste a bittersweet history’ is an ongoing project that brings together collective and personal memory to offer new ways of engaging with a complex and nuanced history and explores how visual media can be used to address colonial legacies.
You can read more about the research in my thesis 'Unarchiving Colonial Narratives'. A shorter version of my research process is published in the FOMU Trigger magazine essay, ‘Remembering to forget/forgetting to remember’.
Parts of this research was showcased at the MA Photography and Society graduation show at the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in July 2024.
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