Blad 123 uit Stamboek van de leerlingen der Koloniale School voor Meisjes en Vrouwen te 's-Gravenhage deel II (1930-1949) Possibly 1939

This is a page from a student register book, filled in with pen and ink, probably around the 1930s. It’s made by someone unknown, and when I look at it, I think, what was it like to sit and make these repetitive marks? I imagine the person who made this book, carefully forming each letter, lining everything up with each other. Each entry a small window into someone's life. The signatures and photos added later, a response to this blank space. There’s something comforting in this record, these handwritten gestures of care to make a record. It reminds me that even in the most constrained of systems, people find ways to express themselves, adding texture and color to the mundane. Maybe that’s what all artists are doing: finding the extraordinary within the ordinary, and making a record of it.