Portret van Tine Kleiterp-Vermeulen zittend in een stoel in Adiwerna op Java 1925

This photograph by Klaas Kleiterp captures Tine Kleiterp-Vermeulen seated in a chair in Adiwerna, Java. Consider the presence of the chair itself—a throne of domesticity. Seated, she holds a book. This echoes a historical motif of learnedness and leisure often reserved for the elite, yet here, it speaks of the diffusion of knowledge and the changing roles within colonial society. Throughout history, the seated figure has been a powerful symbol of authority and contemplation. Think of the Buddha in meditative repose, or the regal portraits of European monarchs. In each, the posture conveys a sense of control and inner peace, as if the sitter is rooted in a world of shifting sands. The way the sitter in this photo occupies the domestic sphere with an air of quiet command tells us of an emotional and psychological assertion of identity. The book as a tool of memory, passed down through history, now takes on a new dimension in her hands. It connects her to a broader narrative of cultural exchange. The cyclical progression of symbols continues, as books—once the sacred objects of monasteries—find their way into the hands of colonial women, forever changing the landscape of cultural identity and the narrative of authority.