Collage van uitgeknipte prenten geplakt op albumblad van blauw papier c. 1585 - 1700

Curator: Looking at this peculiar artwork, identified as "Collage van uitgeknipte prenten geplakt op albumblad van blauw papier," made circa 1585-1700, origin unknown, now residing here at the Rijksmuseum… my first thought is 'What am I looking at?' Editor: Right? It feels almost...playful. The figures are floating, cut from different sources and assembled onto this blue field. It's dreamlike, almost like flipping through a really old scrapbook and catching glimpses of stories. Curator: Exactly. It's crucial to consider this object not just as a decorative item, but as a material manifestation of its era's visual culture. Collage allows for juxtaposing images from different times, challenging historical linearity and pointing to issues of representation and appropriation inherent in collecting and re-contextualizing imagery. Editor: "Appropriation"—totally. Somebody was scavenging imagery, pulling it all together to make something completely new. It reminds me a bit of early internet meme culture – grabbing pieces from here and there to create new meanings. Did it have political undertones do you think? The guy on the left kind of looks like he might cause trouble! Curator: The combination of portraits and floral imagery is no accident, it speaks to social hierarchies, scientific classification and burgeoning mercantilism and trade systems, maybe, but without the makers' mark and historical accounts, it’s a mystery. These collages give a tactile engagement, emphasizing labor and decision making involved in image manipulation at a time way before digital processes. Editor: True. There's so much craft evident, though, you can sense an artist working something through—juxtaposing an armed figure with flowers, perhaps symbolizing war versus the quiet tranquility of home... Curator: Perhaps an early iteration of a remix culture questioning what we understand to be unique or creative. Its very existence as a hybrid challenges our notion of originality. Editor: It makes me feel as if I have an insight into this bygone artist's soul, even with its mystery still intact... thanks for opening my mind. Curator: As always, our conversation takes us beyond the image and forces a rethinking about art in general. Hopefully our listeners share similar inspirations from what they've just heard!