Fiji, from Types of Nationalities (N240) issued by Kinney Bros. 1890

Curator: This trading card, "Fiji, from Types of Nationalities," was issued around 1890 by Kinney Bros. It’s currently held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. What are your initial impressions? Editor: Stark and unsettling, though quite intriguing. The color palette is somewhat muted, giving the piece a rather antiquated, almost sepia-toned quality, even though color is definitely present. Curator: Absolutely. It's important to remember the historical context: these cards were produced as part of a marketing campaign for tobacco, during a period rife with colonialist attitudes. Editor: Tell me more. It seems like the intention here is documentary. The figure is frontal, almost confrontational in gaze, framed centrally within a rigid composition. It does have portrait-like attributes despite the somewhat rough-looking print and inscription underneath. Curator: The inscription reveals some of the era’s troubling views. The "nightmare" reference and othering language reveal the racism inherent in such portrayals of non-Western peoples. We are confronted by the colonial gaze that seeks to categorize and exoticize Fijians within a racial hierarchy. The artist also focuses quite intently on the chief’s facial scarification and adornment. It serves the goal of differentiating them, thus creating that “us” vs “them” divide so important in colonization projects. Editor: So it’s a portrait embedded in complex cultural issues, yes. Despite what appears to be the intention of the card, there’s a strange visual power emanating from this depiction. A face surrounded by ornament and a compelling sense of…I suppose dignity isn’t quite the right word given the text. There’s defiance there, regardless. Curator: Precisely! This contradiction makes the work valuable for analysis. How can we understand what formal components reveal while actively confronting historical misrepresentations and Western perspectives of non-Western identity? Editor: Yes, exactly. Examining that visual tension allows us to question the power dynamics inherent in representation itself. What does this image achieve when placed alongside, say, more traditional Fijian art? That might challenge any ingrained European visual bias when appreciating different cultures and aesthetic aims. Curator: By recognizing the context and inherent prejudices we can hopefully open up broader understandings of visual representations and their impact on the societies involved, both then and now. Editor: A single card with enormous significance—it forces an introspective consideration of art itself.