Landschap en gezicht op huizen en dorpsplein, West-Java c. 1816 - 1846

Adrianus Johannes Bik created this watercolor and pencil drawing titled 'Landscape and view of houses and village square, West Java.' It's hard to look at this work without considering Bik’s position as a European artist working in colonial Indonesia. This piece provides insight into the complex relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. European artists often depicted the landscapes and people of colonized lands through a lens of exoticism and domination. The artwork reflects a particular vision of Indonesian life, shaped by European aesthetic conventions and power dynamics. What does it mean to represent a culture that is not your own? How does the act of representation either reinforce or challenge colonial power structures? This is something to think about as you reflect on Bik's depiction of West Java.