Twee fotoreproducties van schilderingen, voorstellende watervallen van de Inkisi te Congo en een karavaanroute in het oerwoud te Congo 1894

Editor: Here we have two photo reproductions of paintings by Th. Lantin from 1894. One depicts waterfalls of the Inkisi in Congo and the other, a caravan route in the Congolese jungle. Both are presented in one framed print. What strikes me is the way these images seem to romanticize and exoticize the Congo. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see the visual manifestation of colonial gaze and power. These landscapes, while seemingly objective records, participate in constructing a specific narrative about the Congo for a Western audience. The “untamed” waterfalls and “exotic” caravan route reinforce ideas of Africa as a place of wildness and otherness. Do you notice the framing and composition? Editor: I see it now. The composition of the print, putting the two artworks side by side in a seemingly objective and neutral style, feels like a scientific presentation of specimens. Curator: Precisely! This reinforces a sense of control and ownership over the narrative. Who do you think this piece was created for, and what purpose might it have served in 1894? Editor: It must have been made for Europeans. I imagine that photographs like this one fed into the narratives used to justify colonization – narratives of discovery and domination. It’s unsettling to think of art functioning in this way. Curator: Absolutely. By analyzing the historical context and the visual language employed, we reveal the artwork’s role in shaping and perpetuating power dynamics. Art isn't made in a vacuum and is always intertwined with sociopolitical narratives, whether implicit or explicit. Editor: I’m left thinking about how these romantic images actively erased the realities and the people of Congo. This makes me see landscape art in a completely different light. Curator: Indeed. And it prompts us to question whose perspectives are privileged and whose are marginalized in the narratives presented.