Evidence on Trial

See you in The Hague, curated by Brigitte van der Sande for Stroom Den Haag
The project displays evidentiary documents sourced from the archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia now comprised of 9.3 million objects, including videos, audio recordings, photographs, aerial footage, X-rays, diagrams, floor plans, models, maps and even remnants of charred timber and stone. Specifically it examines the issues that emerge when material evidence is reprocessed by the legal machine that is the international court. What happens when media and other non-textual evidence enter into legal proceedings as a ‘’material witness’’ entrusted with the task of testifying to history? Which impact does the court’s processing of media materials have upon their evidentiary capacity to produce the truth claims that are required for “the justice of law” to answer to “the injustices of war”.
“The work that we do [as artists] has to be rigorous so it can actually withstand cross-examination and be tested in the domains in which it attempts to make a difference. My hope would be that there would be some avenues of communication that open up between practitioners in different fields that is productive and helps each other understand the specific stakes of the disciplines from which we are working.”—closing comment made by Susan Schuppli at The Hague Institute for Global Justice
Description: 28 sequences incorporated into a 16-channel video installation with 2-channel audio. Presented as a video-wall using 28″ purpose-built Hantarex monitors dating to 1990. Overall length 120 mins.