ABOUT
UPCOMING
EDITIONS
FROM 6 TO 9
Suzanne Schols
May 16th - June 22nd
Diplomatic gifts are weighted with expectation and promise. They are symbols of goodwill, yet they also encode strategic intent, operating within an elaborate system of reciprocity where generosity and influence converge. Despite their ceremonial significance, many of these carefully chosen tokens disappear from public view, hidden in diplomatic archives, government store rooms or basements, raising questions about visibility, power and the concealed dimensions of statecraft.
At the core of Polite Fictions is Schols’ research into the European Commission’s diplomatic gift storage, a restricted-access repository where gifts received by EU officials are kept. This hidden collection became the starting point for a broader exploration into the staging of diplomatic exchanges and the fate of these objects once the ceremonial moment has passed. When Schols attempted to photograph the gifts, she encountered bureaucratic resistance, leaving her with an accumulation of documents, email exchanges and ultimately three drawings of the storage space, the only visual trace she was able to create of the original place.
In response to this obstruction, Schols adopts a conceptual approach, constructing Polite Fictions as a layered narrative. The exhibition unfolds through three interconnected elements: a video collage, a vitrine displaying email exchanges and official correspondence, and a series of five fictional still-life photographs.
The video piece presents archival footage of high-profile diplomatic gift exchanges, ornate mosaics, hand-painted, plates, football shirts, all meticulously choreographed for the cameras. Yet within these staged gestures, moments of dissonance emerge: Angela Merkel encountering her own likeness in a mirror, a chilling handshake between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin, a Metallica album gifted in an incongruous setting.
The five still-life photographs function as stand-ins for the absent diplomatic gifts Schols was denied access to. Constructed with poetic restraint, these images reimagine the gifting system as a tableau of power and performance: bubble wrap with nothing inside, empty boxes and frames.
Throughout history, diplomatic gifts have carried complex messages. Certain gifts have reshaped landscapes, as with The Statue of Liberty, a grand gesture of Franco-American friendship. Others, seemingly neutral, such as the bicycles and puppies exchanged between world leaders. And some gifts take on unsettling meanings, like Argentina’s recent gift of a chainsaw to Elon Musk, framed as a statement against bureaucracy, yet evocative of a horror film plot.
Anthropologist Marcel Mauss famously argued in The Gift (1925) that gifts are never purely altruistic; they bind giver and receiver in an ongoing cycle of obligation. Diplomatic gifts, as instruments of soft power, reinforce alliances, establish hierarchies, and create unspoken debts. Even when they are taken away from public use, their presence vanishes, but their effect remains.
Polite Fictions, first conceived in 2020, now finds resonance in Under the Spell’s own underground location. Reversing the logic of diplomatic gifts that vanish from public sight, Under the Spell occupies a space that invites reflection on what remains hidden, both physically and metaphorically. In this setting, Schols’ work gains new depth, aligning the subterranean nature of diplomatic gift storage with the gallery’s own positioning, transforming the exhibition into an exploration of secrecy, power, and the unseen narratives that shape global relationships.
Polite Fictions at Under the Spell was made possible with the support of Stroom Den Haag.
PUBLIC PROGRAMME
Artist Suzanne Schols will be in conversation with curator Jéssica Varrichio at Offprint London.
The talk will take place at the McAulay Studio -- Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG.
On Sunday, May 18, at 11:15am.
Polite Fictions is also a book, featuring concept, photography, and text by Suzanne Schols.
Designed by HouseTMM and printed by Zwaan Lenoir, the book is published in collaboration with HousePublishing.
It features an embossed and screen-printed linen softcover, measure 20 x 27 cm, and span 138 pages.
The book is available for purchase at Under the Spell for £30, with all sales proceeds directly supporting the future programme.