From March to November 2024 students of the Master Non Linear Narrative collaborated with the Dutch National Archives to explore the hidden stories behind twelve historical maps from their Navigation and Overseas Expansion collection. The outcomes of this research collaboration are on display from 9 to 14 November 2024 at the National Archives in The Hague, aiming to redefine the archive as a space of memory and shared stories.

Dutch colonial past

The maps from the Dutch colonial past are important archival documents of the National Archives with a sensitive history. ‘This collaborative project with students from the KABK is an example of how our collections can be made public in a different way: in a modern context for a new and broader audience and from valuable perspectives’, says senior project lead Incisu Dilem Üzüm-Veldhuizen of the National Archives.

New narratives

The exhibition Archival F(r)ictions includes thoughtful narratives exploring topics like the colonial plant trade, the blank spaces in cartography, the provision grounds of plantations, the oral histories of indigenous cultures, the songs of ancestral sorrow, the deterioration of archival material, the concept of an ‘amphibious’ archive, the history of the limbo dance, the fear of getting lost, the legacies of corporate colonialism, and feminist spatial practices. From coffee rituals to the trade in botanical plants and from shadow performances to fossil capitalism, there is plenty to see in this upcoming exhibition. It will undoubtedly offer new perspectives on the common past and present new possibilities for the future.