Blad 91 uit Stamboek van de leerlingen der Koloniale School voor Meisjes en Vrouwen te 's-Gravenhage deel II (1930-1949) Possibly 1937

Curator: Here we have a rather poignant page, likely from 1937, entitled "Blad 91 uit Stamboek van de leerlingen der Koloniale School voor Meisjes en Vrouwen te 's-Gravenhage deel II (1930-1949)". It's a mixed-media work incorporating photography and what looks like hand-lettering on aged paper. Editor: My first impression is that it is a formal, somewhat melancholy record of these women’s lives and it appears as though some names are attached to faces. I can sense so much of an untold story radiating from it. What catches your eye? Curator: The handwritten notes paired with these old photographs create an echo of lives lived under specific social expectations, if you ask me. Note that the photographs, small and carefully pasted in, feel like formal documents alongside the handwritten entries. Almost like pressed flowers. Editor: Yes, it certainly is acting like a relic and artifact with these forgotten, small-scaled family or individual photos. It seems these students, most likely from colonial families, recorded key details – births, marriages, perhaps even deaths. I keep finding myself going back to these elegant calligraphic swirls intertwined within each row. The hands almost feel like vines wrapping themselves around the subject’s identities. What do you think? Curator: Absolutely. The careful handwriting underscores the importance of documentation and record-keeping of the time. These weren’t just any sketches; each entry feels curated. Do you agree? And the style almost feels antiquated itself with this mixed-medium portrait effect with images set against these sketches. Editor: Definitely a tangible historical record with both psychological implications with it’s hand lettering work with pen and the photographs which act as anchors binding each story to a particular moment in time. The use of aged paper only amplifies its cultural significance and sense of historical importance. Curator: Indeed. To think that a seemingly simple record could carry such emotional and historical weight; a gentle reminder to look closer at those pieces of history we come across daily, isn't it? Editor: I couldn't agree more. I look at these individual lives recorded on each page of what might have been once just an old book to the stories that they tell and feel a wave of connection of generations that were present before ours.