Ace of Spades

Ace of Spades is a monoprint and photo transfer art project, based on the colonial

archive of locally recruited African soldiers who served in the Egyptian, German, British

and French colonial armies in Africa and overseas in the 19th and 20th Centuries.

The recreation of iconic images of African soldiers is connected to the collages in the

background, which are inspired by motives of the colonial era, such as postcards,

military stamps from African colonies, names and ranks of the Sudanese battalion who

was fighting for the French Army in Mexico 1863 or the Tazeker Alhuryaa (Freedom

tickets) that were given to those who were enslaved in Egypt to indicate the end of their

slavery. The relation of images, symbols and elements raises questions about the system of

military slavery in North Africa and Europe, that typically emphasizes/ the identity and

individuality of African soldiers within the colonial armies.