Gezicht op de stad Bantam 1614 - 1622

Curator: Here we have “View of the City of Bantam,” a print made sometime between 1614 and 1622 by Pieter Serwouters, now residing in the Rijksmuseum collection. It’s an engraving depicting the bustling port city. What's your immediate sense of it? Editor: Wow, it’s intricate! So much detail packed into one scene. At first glance, it feels… both epic and a bit unsettling. Like a meticulously staged play with looming ships and stormy skies – it kind of throws me into a strange kind of dramatic tale! Curator: Exactly, there's a performative aspect. The allegorical figures in the sky, representing continents, suggest a global order, and perhaps Dutch self-perception within it. What's the visual effect for you? Editor: The ships dominating the foreground definitely scream power and trade. There are figures on the shore that don’t feel connected to this great representation above. Curator: These representations in visual culture reinforce the colonial endeavor, situating Bantam as a resource, a spectacle, and something to be controlled. In this context, gender comes into play with how "Asia" is personified... Editor: Hmm, now you point that out, "Asia" up there on her cloud-throne feels distant, like a symbol detached from reality, very idealized to the scene beneath. All of this almost romanticizes colonialism—a sugar-coating to what was often quite bitter. Curator: Precisely. These historical depictions often obscure violence through idealized aesthetics. Reflecting on Serwouters' work today compels us to unpack this. It’s an artifact but one that should be used for accountability. Editor: Yes, confronting those problematic representations helps reveal their constructed nature. To look at it now, understanding the full context, I see both artistry and propaganda, making me wary of simple narratives.