Reproducing Traces of Trauma: Towards Transformation Through Contemporary Art

In the spring of 1863, a man known by the name of Peter escaped from a plantation in Louisiana and found safety among Union soldiers encamped at Baton Rouge in the United States of America. Before being able to enlist in the military, he underwent an extensive medical examination which revealed that his back was heavily mutilated and filled with horrific scars. The photograph taken – later often referred to as ‘The Scourged Back’ – became proof of slavery’s brutality and was used by the abolitionists in their campaign to end slavery. The picture was reproduced many times and rapidly spread across the country. More than 160 years later, the image of Peter still provides a powerful imprint of the horrors of slavery and has formed the blueprint of a string of recently produced contemporary art works. This short essay centers three pivotal works by Victor Sonna, Arthur Jafa and Fabiola Jean-Louis that deal with this subject matter and discusses their potential in dealing with and transforming historical trauma.