TRIALS,
TRIBUNALS,
TRUTH COMMISSIONS
Arguments, or the rhetorical construction of truth about historical events, have always lain at the heart of legal trials. In this sense, it is not bare facts in themselves but how they can be assembled into a coherent and convincing narrative that provides the foundation for law’s findings on the truth. However, through the course of the twentieth century, the materials upon which arguments could be built have radically altered. This research sets out to explore mediated evidence, the role of scientific expertise, and the ways in which they combine to create new legal assemblages.
At the same time it argues that the emergence of truth commissions and other transitional justice mechanisms provided alternate forums, which foregrounded the experience of affected communities, created spaces for considering oral traditions, cultural materials, and more-than-human witnesses as compelling evidence of historical wrongs, especially within settle-colonial contexts.
Explore the ICTY Court Records here︎︎︎
Material Witness: Media, Forensics, Evidence (2020)
“Should Videos of Trees have Standing? An Inquiry into the Legal Rites of Unnatural Objects at the ICTY.” A Cultural History of Law in the Modern Age. Eds. Celermajer, Danielle and Richard Sherwin. London: Bloomsbury (2018)
“Law and Disorder.” Realism Materialism Art. Ed. Christoph Cox, Jenny Jaskey, Suhail Malik. Berlin: Sternberg Press, (2015); 137-43.
“Entering Evidence”, Forensis: The Architecture of Public Truth. Ed. Forensic Architecture, Berlin: Sternberg Press, (2014): 279-314.
“A Memorial in Exile in London’s Olympics: Orbits of Responsibility.” Open Democracy (2012).
The Architecture of Conflict, Vi Per Gallery, Prague (2018)
The Image of War, Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm (2017-18)
Scenographies of Power, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain (2017)
Forensic Architecture: Towards an Investigative Aesthetics, MACBA, Barcelona (2017)
Evidence on Trial, See you in The Hague, Stroom Den Haag, NL (2014)
Forensis, Haus Der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, (March 2014)
No One Belongs Here More than You, 54th October Salon, Belgrade (2013)
Sheikh, Shela. "The Future of the Witness: Nature, Race and More-than-Human Environmental Publics." Kronos 44 (2018): 145-62.
Razack, Sherene author. Dying from Improvement: Inquests and Inquiries into Indigenous Deaths in Custody. Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2015.
Forensis, Haus Der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, March 2014.
Vismann, Cornelia. "Breaks in Language at the Nuremberg Trials." Rechenschaften. Ed. Braese, Stephan. Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2014 (eng trans.)
Keenan, Thomas, and Eyal Weizman. Mengele’s Skull: The Advent of Forensic Aesthetics. Ed. Hirsch, Nikolaus. Frankfurt: Sternberg Press / Portikus, 2012.
Sherwin, Richard K. Visualizing Law in the Age of the Digital Baroque: Arabesques and Entanglements. London: Routledge, 2011.
Vismann, Cornelia, and Geoffrey Winthrop-Young. Files: Law and Media Technology. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008.
Napoleon, Val. "Delgamuukw : A Legal Straightjacket for Oral Histories?" Canadian Journal of Law and Society 20.2 (2005): 123-55.
At the same time it argues that the emergence of truth commissions and other transitional justice mechanisms provided alternate forums, which foregrounded the experience of affected communities, created spaces for considering oral traditions, cultural materials, and more-than-human witnesses as compelling evidence of historical wrongs, especially within settle-colonial contexts.
Explore the ICTY Court Records here︎︎︎
WRITING
Material Witness: Media, Forensics, Evidence (2020)
“Should Videos of Trees have Standing? An Inquiry into the Legal Rites of Unnatural Objects at the ICTY.” A Cultural History of Law in the Modern Age. Eds. Celermajer, Danielle and Richard Sherwin. London: Bloomsbury (2018)
“Law and Disorder.” Realism Materialism Art. Ed. Christoph Cox, Jenny Jaskey, Suhail Malik. Berlin: Sternberg Press, (2015); 137-43.
“Entering Evidence”, Forensis: The Architecture of Public Truth. Ed. Forensic Architecture, Berlin: Sternberg Press, (2014): 279-314.
“A Memorial in Exile in London’s Olympics: Orbits of Responsibility.” Open Democracy (2012).
EXHIBITIONS
The Architecture of Conflict, Vi Per Gallery, Prague (2018)
The Image of War, Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm (2017-18)
Scenographies of Power, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain (2017)
Forensic Architecture: Towards an Investigative Aesthetics, MACBA, Barcelona (2017)
Evidence on Trial, See you in The Hague, Stroom Den Haag, NL (2014)
Forensis, Haus Der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, (March 2014)
No One Belongs Here More than You, 54th October Salon, Belgrade (2013)
RESOURCES
Sheikh, Shela. "The Future of the Witness: Nature, Race and More-than-Human Environmental Publics." Kronos 44 (2018): 145-62.
Razack, Sherene author. Dying from Improvement: Inquests and Inquiries into Indigenous Deaths in Custody. Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2015.
Forensis, Haus Der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, March 2014.
Vismann, Cornelia. "Breaks in Language at the Nuremberg Trials." Rechenschaften. Ed. Braese, Stephan. Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2014 (eng trans.)
Keenan, Thomas, and Eyal Weizman. Mengele’s Skull: The Advent of Forensic Aesthetics. Ed. Hirsch, Nikolaus. Frankfurt: Sternberg Press / Portikus, 2012.
Sherwin, Richard K. Visualizing Law in the Age of the Digital Baroque: Arabesques and Entanglements. London: Routledge, 2011.
Vismann, Cornelia, and Geoffrey Winthrop-Young. Files: Law and Media Technology. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008.
Napoleon, Val. "Delgamuukw : A Legal Straightjacket for Oral Histories?" Canadian Journal of Law and Society 20.2 (2005): 123-55.
Aspects of this research was conducted within the framework of Forensic Architecture / ERC.
RESEARCH