Gezicht op vermoedelijk een notenplantage op de Molukken before 1894

This is an anonymous print, likely made in the Dutch East Indies, depicting what is assumed to be a nutmeg plantation in the Moluccas. It’s a black and white print, giving it a stark, documentary feel. But consider what’s not shown: the immense labor required to cultivate these plantations, the enslaved people forced to work them, and the violence enacted by the Dutch East India Company to maintain its monopoly on the spice trade. Prints like these served to sanitize and romanticize the colonial project for a European audience. The seemingly simple image belies a complex web of exploitation and oppression, reminding us that even seemingly benign objects can be deeply implicated in systems of power. We need to look beyond the surface to understand the social and political forces that shaped its creation.