Portret van een inwoner van Ombay in Indonesië 1822

This is Jacques Etienne Victor Arago’s lithograph of a man from Ombay in Indonesia. Arago was part of a French scientific expedition in the early 19th century. The print captures the complex and often fraught dynamics between colonizer and colonized. It reflects the scientific and social norms of the time, which often exoticized and othered non-European people. The inscription "Anthropophage d'Ombay" tells us much about the perceptions of non-Western people. It is a term that reduces the sitter to a single, sensational characteristic. In viewing this portrait, one must consider how cultural biases shaped the creation and reception of this work. Despite its problematic context, the portrait also offers a glimpse into the identity and appearance of a man from Ombay, whose name and personal story remain unknown to us. His gaze is direct, unsmiling, hinting at the complexities of human identity. Arago's work invites us to reflect on the power dynamics inherent in portraiture.