Black Magic At The White House

source: highlike

Work: In the video ‘Black Magic at the White House’, Ehlers is performing a vodoun dance in Marienborg which has a strong connection to the triangular trade. It was built as a summer residence for the Commander Olfert Fischer in 1744, who since sold it to merchant Peter Windt, who also had created a great deal of wealth from the slave and sugar trade, and who even brought slaves with to his home in Denmark. Several others of the period’s trading men have owned and put their stamp on Marienborg, and today it still plays an important role in Denmark, in terms of its position as the official residence of the country’s prime minister.
Photographer: Nikolaj Recke
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source: imagerydimension

In the video Black Magic at the White House, Ehlers is performing a voodoo dance in Marienborg which has a strong connection to the triangular trade. It was built as a summer residence for the Commander Olfert Fischer in 1744, who since sold it to merchant Peter Windt, who also had created a great deal of wealth from the slave and sugar trade, and who even brought slaves with to his home in Denmark. Several others of the period’s trading men have owned and put their stamp on Marienborg, and today it still plays an important role in Denmark, in terms of its posi- tion as the official residence of the country’s prime minister. The video is part of the large project ATLANTIC. Jeannette Ehlers, with ATLANTIC, brings focus on a dark chapter in Danish history: its intensive participation in the slave trade and colonialism. Through digitally manipulated photographs and video installations, she puts under the microscope the Danish triangular trade across the Atlantic between Denmark, the Caribbean and the Gold Coast. ATLANTIC offers no answers, but is a poetic presentation using photography, both documentary and manipulative possibilities to create reflections on the Danish slave trade.
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source: batbridgingartandtexttumblr

Visual artist Jeannette Ehlers has worked with Danish colonialism in pieces such as the ATLANTIC (2009), which brings focus on a dark chapter in Danish history: its intensive participation in the slave trade and colonialism. Through digitally manipulated photographs and video installations, she closely examines the Danish triangular trade across the Atlantic between Denmark, the Caribbean and the Gold Coast. ATLANTIC offers no answers, but is a poetic presentation using photography, both documentary and manipulative possibilities to create reflections on the Danish slave trade. The piece Black Magic at the White House shows a shadow of a woman practicing a voodoo ritual in Marienborg, the place where the Danish prime minister resides, which was built on money gained from the slave trade. In her latest piece BUSTIN’ MY KNOTS she examines how the slave trade still affects the African American culture. She has participated in Enter 2011, OPEN STUDIO, ISCP, New York,LOOP, Artfair, Barcelona, Spain, CPH:DOX, and she is the recipient of the three year working grant from the Danish Arts Foundation.
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source: konstguse

Jeannette Ehlers är en dansk konstnär, utbildad vid Det kongelige danske kunstakademi. Ehlers har arbetat med kolonialism och slaveriets historia i fotografi och videofilmer, där hon bl.a. använder sig själv och sin far, som är från Trinidad. Bland hennes senaste videoverk märks Black Magic in the White House och The Invisible Empire.