Lead Researcher: Dr. Anja Novak, Art History, University of Amsterdam

Associate Researcher: Dr. Florian Göttke, Art History, University of Amsterdam

Artist Researchers

Daria Khozhai, artist and architect, https://khozhai.com

Charlotte Roijackers l C P R, artistic researcher

Anna Kakhiani, artist, www.annakakhiani.com

Ksenia Yurkova, artist, curator and researcher, https://kseniayurkova.art

Sara Blokland, visual artist, curator and researcher, https://sarablokland.com

Description of the research group

Some 25 years ago, Nancy Miller and Jason Tougaw stated that we live in “the age of trauma” (Miller/Tougaw, Extremities, 2002). By this, they referred primarily to the aftermath of the war crimes and genocides of the previous century, particularly the Holocaust, which formed the main subject of the first wave of trauma studies. Since then, the world has not become a more peaceful place. Acts of terrorism and newly resurfacing geopolitical conflicts, culminating in war and genocidal violence, dominate the daily news. Global economic entanglements and the increasing use of digital media ensure that the impact of these atrocities is seen and felt globally more than ever and with greater intensity. At the same time, emancipation movements ensure an ongoing confrontation, not only with the aftermath, but with the actual persistence of long-lasting and abundant atrocities such as colonial, racial, sexual, and gender-related violence. With the spiraling climate crisis on top of all that, it should come as no surprise that “trauma” has become a lens through which an increasing number of people are inclined to view reality.

The increasing awareness of the mechanisms of trauma has the advantage that previously marginalized experiences are cast in a different light and finally receive attention. On the other hand, significant differences between events and experiences of trauma threaten to be lost from view. When even everyday setbacks are labeled as traumatic, the term loses its weight. It no longer does justice to experiences that pose an existential threat and defy the very limits of representation and understanding. The instrumentalization of trauma in identity politics is yet another complex subject. While it is indispensable for highlighting injustice by generating attention for the precarious past and present of the affected groups, claims of victimhood that become the stake in political power struggles can fuel polarization. Second-generation trauma studies therefore caution against essentializing approaches and urge to pay close attention to the specific circumstances of traumatic events.

Aligning itself with second-generation trauma studies, this research group attempts to investigate how and for what purpose contemporary art thematizes trauma. In close collaboration with artists working in this field, we seek to enable fruitful dialogues between academic research and artistic practice. What idioms and vocabularies emerge at the intersection of current artistic and academic research into experiences and histories of trauma and loss? What kind of encounters and exchanges occur at this interface? And what is their value to survivors and witnesses of incomprehensible events? With Donald Winnicott’s notion of a “holding environment” in mind, we explore whether art can offer something similar: spaces in which deeply disturbing experiences can be addressed, shared and integrated, thereby enabling a reconnection with life.