Wilt gij de Rarekiek eens zien, / Komt hier dan, oude en jonge liên. / De man is klaar, de prent begint, / In deze Rarekiekenprint 1850 - 1870

Editor: This is "Wilt gij de Rarekiek eens zien," an etching by P.C.L. van Staden Czn., made sometime between 1850 and 1870. It looks like a page of comic strips. All those little scenes... what's going on here? What's your take on it? Curator: What immediately strikes me is how this print exemplifies the popular culture of the mid-19th century. "Rarekiek" translates roughly to "peep show," referring to a portable device used for viewing scenes or images, often exotic or fantastical. Considering this, what does the organization of these panels tell you? Editor: It's like a flattened, printed version of that device… showing scenes someone would have paid to see. There’s travel imagery and folklore too. A window onto the world for regular folks! Curator: Precisely. This print served as a widely accessible, affordable form of entertainment and visual education. Circulating images like this democratized access to the broader world. But note also the element of social control, do you observe it here? Editor: You mean because someone is choosing what scenes to show, what stories to tell? Are those stories reinforcing certain ideas? It does make you wonder about the purpose behind these panels and the influence it could have had. Curator: Exactly. The choice of scenes and their presentation inevitably reflect the cultural biases and values of the time. Were the figures idealized or were they satirical caricatures? And for whom was the "joke"? Considering those questions, do you think a piece like this would have impact beyond pure entertainment value? Editor: I’d never have thought about a simple comic as having real cultural weight! I guess art really is more than just the images themselves. Curator: Indeed, understanding the social role of art helps us see its powerful reach through history.