Spleetvorming in de B1 Koollaag door afschuiving op het liggende 1921 - 1922

This photograph titled "Spleetvorming in de B1 Koollaag door afschuiving op het liggende" was made by an anonymous artist. It depicts a coal mining operation. The image likely originates from the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, during the late 19th or early 20th century, a period of intense colonial resource extraction. The presence of what seems to be overseers in white suits, contrasted with the laborers, hints at the rigid social hierarchy imposed by Dutch colonial rule. This photograph isn't merely a neutral record; it’s a document deeply implicated in the power dynamics of its time. The "anonymous" attribution further underscores the erasure of individual labor within the larger machinery of colonial exploitation. To fully understand this image, one would need to delve into the archives of colonial mining companies, and explore oral histories of the local populations affected by these operations. The meaning of art is contingent on social and institutional context.