Portretstudie van de dochter van het hoofd van Afara, op het eiland Workai, Aru eilanden, Zuidoost-Molukken 1824

This is Adrianus Johannes Bik's pencil drawing, made in 1824, depicting the daughter of the chief of Afara, on Workai Island, in the Southeast Moluccas. Bik, who was Dutch, made this drawing during a period of increasing European colonial expansion in the Indonesian archipelago. The Aru Islands, where Workai is located, were particularly prized for their natural resources, and were subject to frequent exploitation. As such, this image offers an interesting perspective on the politics of representation during this period. The young woman is shown seated, adorned with jewelry, and partially unclothed. This is not necessarily a neutral depiction. How might Bik's cultural background, and the broader colonial context, have influenced the way he chose to portray this indigenous subject? To understand this work better, we can look at archival documents and studies of Dutch colonialism to find out more about how Southeast Moluccan people were perceived and represented during that time.