Persistent Visions is a three-channel video work by artist Erika Tan, originally commissioned in 2005 by Picture This, with support from the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum, as part of Ghosting, a series of research-based commissions exploring archive, memory and ethnography.

The work draws on donated Super 8 footage filmed by individuals and families who were once stationed in the former British colonies. Originally held by the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum, this material is now in Bristol Archives.

Through this archival footage, Persistent Visions questions how history and collective memory are constructed through film, and how audiences encounter and interpret material held in archives. The fragmented, often indeterminate images leave room for subjective interpretation, foregrounding the uncertainties involved in reading historical evidence.

The title refers to persistence of vision, the optical phenomenon through which a sequence of still images is perceived as continuous movement. The relationship between the eye, the brain and the moving image is central to the work, both physiologically and politically.

Originally developed as a ‘silent’ work, Persistent Visions withholds sound as an authorial device, allowing audiences to form their own responses to the images.

Credits

Artist and video edit: Erika Tan

Original archival film collections: Boles, Dalyell, Duke, Fisher, Fromings, Gaskell, Hartgill, Harley, Hawley, Hayburn, Knowles, Lorimer, Morrison, Selkirk, Silk, Vernede, Wicksteed and Wilson.

The 2026 premiere is supported by Illustrious Company and Central Saint Martins Art Programme, University of the Arts London. Audio equipment has been kindly provided by Monitor Audio Ltd.