Huis met de vulkaan Salak(?) op de achtergrond, Buitenzorg c. 1921

Willem Witsen created this etching of a house with the Salak volcano in the background, likely in the late 19th or early 20th century. Witsen, born into a wealthy Dutch family, traveled to the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. In this work, we see the confluence of colonial power and landscape. Witsen, a privileged Western artist, depicts a scene that romanticizes the exotic "other," reducing the complex realities of colonial life to a picturesque view. This viewpoint often overlooks the lives and experiences of the local population, who are notably absent from the scene. The volcano looms in the background, a symbol of the untamed, natural world, while the house suggests a serene, ordered existence. The artwork is a quiet reminder of the power dynamics inherent in colonial encounters, inviting us to reflect on whose stories are told and whose are left out.