Suriname, bezitting der Nederlanders op het vasteland van Amerika. - 65,000 inwoners 1850 - 1881

Editor: So, this print by Dirk Noothoven van Goor, made sometime between 1850 and 1881, is titled "Suriname, bezitting der Nederlanders op het vasteland van Amerika. - 65,000 inwoners". It’s an engraving, giving us these intricate little scenes of Suriname. It feels a bit like looking at a history book… distant and perhaps a bit romanticized? What do you see in this piece, beyond just the geographical details? Curator: Oh, that’s a wonderful first impression! You've got to feel the air, haven't you? The printmaker, bless his heart, is working from second-hand sources, you see. It's not about the literal *truth* of Suriname but the truth of the Dutch imagination *about* Suriname. This imagined Dutch presence... Doesn’t it feel a little melancholic to you, though? These clean, organized scenes seem almost desperately neat when placed against the imagined exotic backdrop. And remember what the prints were created for... Do you know who the audience was intended to be for? Editor: You mean for kids? Like, almost propaganda, in a way? To make them feel good about the Dutch empire? Curator: Precisely. "Prenten-Magazijn voor de Jeugd" means "Print Magazine for Youth." We’re looking at the Dutch imagining themselves civilizing a foreign landscape, all packaged for innocent eyes back home. The engraving isn't merely a map, but a reflection of cultural pride and, maybe unintentionally, colonial ambition. What did it give you a better appreciation for about seeing art like this? Editor: That seeing the cultural lens through which someone sees something is just as informative, if not more so, as whatever they are literally looking at? I hadn’t really considered that.