Temmen van een olifant 1785

Jan Brandes created this watercolor and ink drawing titled 'Taming an Elephant.' Brandes worked for the Dutch East India Company, and this image offers insight into the colonial practices of 18th-century Southeast Asia. The scene depicts the subjugation of wild elephants, reflecting a broader narrative of colonial domination over both the natural world and its human inhabitants. The local men, their bodies rendered in careful detail, are active participants in this act of domination. We cannot overlook how race, class, and colonialism intersect here. The elephants, majestic and powerful, are reduced to objects of labor, much like the local population under colonial rule. "Taming" here also speaks to a cultural taming, a restructuring of local economies to serve the interests of the Dutch East India Company. The drawing, while seemingly documenting a practical process, quietly speaks to the power dynamics inherent in colonial encounters. It invites us to reflect on the complex relationships between humans, animals, and the environment, shaped by the forces of colonialism.