Bordspel De Hut van oom Tom 1840 - 1851

Curator: Let’s discuss this remarkable piece, "Bordspel De Hut van oom Tom," or "Board Game Uncle Tom’s Cabin." Created sometime between 1840 and 1851 by Nicolaas Charles Krone, this engraving with pen and ink is currently held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Whoa, heavy. Visually, it looks like a dark cloud settled over Candyland. All those little numbered vignettes hint at a journey, but the overall feel is oppressive. A game? Really? What was Nicolaas thinking? Curator: Exactly! The seemingly innocent format of a board game masks its problematic underpinnings. This game draws directly from Harriet Beecher Stowe's influential novel, and we must analyze how it participated in the reproduction of racist imagery and ideologies. Editor: Oh, it's not subtle, is it? I can almost hear the echoes of minstrel shows. Were people actually...enjoying this? It's so jarring seeing playfulness intertwined with dehumanization. Gives you the shivers, honestly. I feel like it would almost feel dirty to roll the dice on that...thing. Curator: And that’s the discomfort we need to confront. How does popular culture perpetuate stereotypes? How did "Uncle Tom's Cabin," despite its anti-slavery stance, become implicated in harmful representations of Black individuals? This board game becomes a tool for unpacking those painful questions. How could this, meant for child's play, normalize the atrocities that Black individuals experienced? Editor: Right, like some twisted form of "educational" toy... Looking closely, some of those squares depict fairly rough scenes. You almost forget this thing's framed as, you know, entertainment. Did folks at the time clock the weight of it all, or did it slip by wrapped in the guise of innocent fun? Curator: Contemporary audiences likely had varying perspectives, desensitized as many were to such imagery. However, studying this object today offers critical insights into the pervasiveness of racist tropes and their insidious embedding within everyday life. We confront it to understand that this is where the battle happens. Editor: It's a stark reminder of the era, and how easy it was to normalize the inexcusable. A pretty grim game of snakes and ladders. What a potent and uncomfortable artifact. Curator: Indeed. May we confront its unsettling nature to spark awareness for a future where it becomes incomprehensible.