You are kindly invited to join us for a discussion on the life and work of Dutch photographer Frank Scholten and what his work could mean in a contemporary context.

For this program we are collaborating with Sary Zananiri, an artist and cultural historian at Leiden University, who works with Scholten’s extensive archive of work owned by NINO.

Scholten (1881-1942) is best known for his travels to Palestine in the early 1920s, travels he made in part to evade prosecution in The Netherlands for homosexual activity with young men. This was in a time in which the age of consent for gay and straight activity was different under law 248bis.

In Palestine he documented both sites of historical and religious significance as well as modern life aiming to make an illustrated bible. Among other things, his photographs and archive give us rare hint into a European’s understanding of queer Palestinian life in the early 1920s. His work has only been exhibited once since his death.

The event will consist of two parts. In the first part two presentations by Sary Zananiri and Theo van der Meer will focus on the life and times of Scholten, both in a Dutch and a Palestinian context.

For the second part of the evening, we hand the topic over to three curators, Edwin Nasr, Guinevere Ras and Vivian Ziherl. They will look at the different themes, and perhaps problematics, to be found in the works of Scholten. How can these be addressed in a contemporary framework? They will share their views on the works of Scholten and how these could be shown in an institutional context.