Eva-Lotte van Rossen

Het Kolenhok begins with my grandparents’ affiliation with the NSB, the Dutch National Socialist party during World War II, and the exclusion they faced afterwards. The silence surrounding their past shaped family relationships and influenced my sense of identity. This project reflects on how inherited and transgenerational trauma quietly inhabits the body and mind, not just in stories, but in the things left unsaid.

The work presents a multidisciplinary installation that includes framed carbon prints, an archive table with a document, and a moving image titled Stamboomgegevens, graag vertrouwelijk mee om gaan (5m58s), developed in collaboration with Sjaan Flikweert. The four carbon prints introduce emotion and narrative, while the archive table holds collected materials to provide the contextual background of my story. These elements are a glimpse into the inaccessible, revealing how much history remains fragmented or obscured. The publication ties these threads together in a tactile form, combining image, text, and record to evoke the enduring effects of secrecy and shame.

Trauma is no stranger to me. It has been a presence since before I was born. Though rooted in personal experience, the project tries to point out broader societal patterns that keep trauma in place through silence, historical denial, and binary right and wrong thinking. This polarisation, visible in politics, media, and everyday interactions, often overlooks context and complexity, reinforcing unresolved pain. Het Kolenhok creates space for viewers to reflect, hold, and reconsider what remains unresolved, shedding light on how buried secrets and internalised shame prevent healing and perpetuate trauma across generations.