Poster Telefoneer met Nederlandsch-Indië (Telephone with the Dutch East Indies) 1933

Leo Visser created this poster to promote telephone calls to the Dutch East Indies. The visual language of this poster tells us a lot about the relationship between the Netherlands and its colony at that time. We see images of Dutch architecture, flora and windmills juxtaposed with imagery of Indonesian puppets, architecture and tropical plants. The beam of light emanating from the radio tower pierces through the sky connecting the two countries. The juxtaposition of these images speaks to the colonial project in which foreign and domestic elements are combined in novel ways. By comparing them, this poster makes a visual statement about the character of that relationship and the modernizing influence of technology. As art historians, it is our job to examine these images through the lens of time. We might ask: how did Dutch citizens perceive Indonesia and how did Indonesian citizens perceive Dutch culture during this period? By consulting sources, we can more fully understand the historical dynamics that inform this propaganda image.