TWO SECONDS

For the Tropenmuseum’s Our Colonial Heritage exhibition, I created an interactive installation that visualizes the scale of Dutch slavery through a poetic digital memorial. Animated paper sheets—each representing one of 165,000 known enslaved individuals—form human figures representing the two million unknown enslaved people. Over the ten-year exhibition, two million figures will walk across the screen, honoring both named and unnamed victims.

Some stories unfold through scrollytelling, creating a deeper emotional connection. By visually linking the data to human identity, the installation encourages reflection and remembrance of the people behind the numbers.

Visitors can search, filter and explore names via touchscreens that connect directly to the animation. When a visitor pauses on a person’s name for two seconds, their presence is marked as ‘seen’, contributing to a collective goal of acknowledging every individual.