The racist theories of the late 19th and early 20th centuries required visible proof of their supposed scientific basis. In her work, Rajkamon Kahlon explores how images were implicated in this process. She addresses the photographic archive of German biological anthropologist Egon von Eickstedt, one of the leading figures of Nazi race theory.

In 1924, Eickstedt traveled to India to measure, photograph, and study the Adivasi, indigenous tribal communities who comprise eight to nine percent of India’s population and whose ancestors may have lived in India before others migrated there. Eickstedt created over 12,000 photographs on his travels, which he used to “prove” his theories.

Kahlon's large-scale graphite drawing juxtaposes Eickstedt’s body in a colonial outfit with the head of a man he photographed, fusing the image of the colonized with that of the colonizer.

Link

https://2022.steirischerherbst.at/en/program/artists/3655/rajkamal-kahlon