Gezicht op het Groote Museum in Artis c. 1860 - 1875

This photograph captures the Groote Museum in Artis, Amsterdam, by an anonymous photographer. The image invites us to consider the cultural values embedded in the architecture and the space it represents. The Groote Museum, part of the Artis complex, was founded in the nineteenth century, a period marked by colonial expansion and scientific exploration. Spaces like these were instrumental in shaping public understanding of the natural world, often reinforcing dominant ideologies about race, class, and the relationship between humans and nature. Consider the museum not merely as a repository of knowledge, but as a stage where the drama of power and identity was enacted. The gaze of the anonymous photographer implicates us in the historical narrative, prompting reflection on how we engage with institutions and the stories they tell, and whose voices remain unheard.