Film as a Reflexive Medium and a Productive Space. The Artist Wendelien van Oldenborgh

Wendelien van Oldenborgh (Rotterdam, b. 1962) has since 2000 been making her mark with remarkable film and slide installations in which she touches on topics concerning social relations, migration, racism and gender. Often these are ‘neglected’ topics from the past, lying dormant just below the surface of the present. One subject that has received her particular attention since 2005 is the influence of the Netherlands’ colonial past on the present and on the self-image of the Dutch. With such film installations as Mauritsscript (2006), No false echoes (2008), Instruction (2009) and La Javanaise (2012), she is one of the few artists to have contributed to the ‘faltering post-colonial discourse’ in the ‘colour-blind’ Netherlands.