Verkoopakte van de tot slaaf gemaakte Leon van Guinea

This is a bill of sale, documenting the enslavement of Leon of Guinea, made in 1812 by Gerrit Drost. It’s handwritten in ink on paper, common materials for record-keeping at the time. The material itself, paper, takes on a sinister quality here. It’s a seemingly innocuous substance that bears witness to a brutal transaction. The controlled penmanship contrasts sharply with the immense human suffering it represents. The bureaucratic language is chilling, reducing a human being to a commodity. Consider the labor involved: from the paper production to the scribe's hand, all contributing to this act of dehumanization. This document forces us to confront the uncomfortable reality that slavery was not just about physical violence, but also about the cold, calculated mechanics of commerce. It's a stark reminder of how systems of power can be embedded in everyday objects, blurring the lines between art, craft, and social injustice.