Performing

The introduction of this volume discusses the historiographical method of performing history primarily in view of how immersion into historical characters and reenactments has been recommended by some historians as useful scholarly practices. Additional examples pepper subsequent chapters, especially in the works of Yael Bartana, Andrea Geyer, and Hiwa K. This chapter addresses the works of two artists, Wendelien van Oldenborgh and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who expand film to explore performative history via methods of embodiment and reincarnation. It examines Maurits Script (2006), Instruction (2009), and Cinema Olanda (2017)-three projects that resulted in digital film works that are usually presented within spatial installations in exhibitions. The staged situation makes it easier for them to identify with the historical characters they are performing. The multipart video installation Primitive by Thai artist and filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul adopts strategies of reenactment to integrate local traditions of (re)performing history.