Raslene

"What if we could create a new colonialism actuality from historical photographs, also at the same time, let the history of the beginning of the sugar industry melt away and dissolve in water?"

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The Sweet and Sour Story of Sugar is a photography investigation project, by means of exhibiting the collected archive of photographs and comparing the globalization process that occurs as a result of the commodification of sugar, in four different countries, namely The Netherlands, Brazil, Indonesia, and Suriname, in which were connected by colonialism, with The Netherlands as the main port in sugar trade.

Noorderlicht, a leading institution of photography in The Netherlands, created the project. As a photography institute, Noorderlicht has a reputation as one of the organizations that have placed their trust in the significance of the power of photography in its ability to reflect the social actuality and to communicate critical thoughts on various levels of society.

"Sugar Fiction" video workshop is a part of this historical photography-based art project, mentored by Mahardika Yudha, coordinator of Video Art Development Division in ruangrupa. The workshop tries to interpret and elevate the form of photography archives into moving images. How the issues of social-politics, colonial, post-colonial, modernization, and technology; which are closely related with the photos of sugar factories; have been "manipulated", "reduced", or even "expunged" from its true meaning to become this new definition from the standpoint of the young generation of women, in seeing the 'moving' historical accounts. The resulting videos are part of the exhibition Sugar Town, Inc.