Groepsportret van de leerlingen van de 22e cursus van de Koloniale School voor Meisjes en Vrouwen in Den Haag Possibly 1928

This photograph shows the graduating class of the Colonial School for Girls and Women in The Hague. Though the photographer is unknown and the date is not recorded, its style points to the 1920s or 30s. The school was an institution set up to train Dutch women to live and work in the Dutch colonies, primarily the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. What visual codes can we read in this image? The women are dressed in the fashion of the day. There is one man on the left, possibly a teacher. The setting is outdoors, in a park or garden. What is interesting is what is not shown. Where are the Indonesian people? The image offers a glimpse into the mindset of the Dutch colonial project. It seems self-consciously progressive, seeking to give women a role, yet it is an entirely segregated world. Further research into the archives of the school, its curriculum, and the biographies of its graduates, would help us better understand the social and institutional context of this photograph.