Frank Scholten: Archaeology and Tourism in the ‘Holy Land’
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden | Leiden, The Netherlands | June-October 2020In this photo exhibition, eight photos that the Dutch photographer Frank Scholten (1881-1942) took in pre-war Palestine were on display. His photographs provide valuable insights into the social consequences of the rise of archeology in Palestine, and its popularization by the tourist industry.
It was the first time since 1924 that Scholten's work was on display, after his only other exhibition in London.
Frank Scholtens' work is virtually unknown today, but it received critical acclaim in Europe, the Middle East and even Australia in the 1920s and 1930s. Although a number of photos have been published in Scholten's book La Palestine Illustrée, most of the estimated 25,000 photos have never been seen by the public.
related projects
Frank Scholten : Photographing Palestine - Film
Biblification, the Classical Body and Homosociality - Posters
Imaging and Imagining Palestine: Photography Modernity and the Biblical Lens, 1918-1948 - Book