Java, het voornaamste eiland der Nederlandsche bezittingen in Azië. - 10,000,000 inwoners 1850 - 1881

This educational print was made in Leiden by D. Noothoven van Goor. It gives a Dutch perspective on the geography of Java, at a time when it was a major colonial possession. The printmaking process itself is important to consider. The crisp lines of the images – the map, the buildings, the landscape – are likely the result of etching or engraving. These are intaglio processes, where lines are incised into a metal plate, which is then inked and printed with great pressure. It’s a means of production well suited to mass communication. We should consider what it meant to represent a place like Java in this way, reducing it to manageable images and blocks of text. The act of printing flattens the reality of colonial exploitation into a reproducible commodity, intended to educate and persuade the Dutch public. The images here served to familiarize and normalize Dutch colonial power.