Opening van het Kanaal van Bergen naar Doornik, ter ere van Willem I Frederik, koning der Nederlanden 1826

Editor: This is a bronze relief, a medal actually, commemorating the "Opening of the Canal from Bergen to Doornik" in 1826, honoring King William I Frederick. It’s quite a detailed scene crammed onto a small, circular surface. The figures have a dramatic flair. What strikes you about it? Curator: I find myself considering the socio-economic context in which this object was produced. A bronze medal – a relatively reproducible object – served as a tool to disseminate and solidify power. What kind of labor went into the canal’s construction, and how is that labor aestheticized – or perhaps more accurately, obscured – within the celebratory imagery? Editor: That's an interesting perspective. I hadn't really thought about the actual labor that made the canal possible. The scene on the medal is purely about the King’s glory, almost like a classical myth. Curator: Exactly! And it is interesting to think about this medal as a form of propaganda, that elevates certain actors over others. Furthermore, what of the materiality? Bronze, while seemingly permanent, is a resource extracted and processed through complex networks of labor and capital. Consider the social implications inherent in even the selection of material. Editor: So you're suggesting that even a commemorative object like this reveals underlying power structures and resource dynamics of the time? Curator: Precisely. We can trace the historical and economic context embedded within the object itself, beyond its explicit celebratory function. Consider what that contrast might have meant to a worker on the canal seeing it? Editor: I see. It shifts my focus from admiring the craftsmanship to questioning the story it's telling, and *who* is being elevated in the story. Thanks! Curator: It's these layers of production and meaning-making which, for me, bring such an object to life. Now I'm curious to do further research about that.