Tabaksplantage van de Nederlandse koloniën op de Wereldtentoonstelling in Amsterdam, 1883 1883

This print, dating from 1883, depicts a tobacco plantation from the Dutch colonies at the World Exhibition in Amsterdam. It's a seemingly innocent scene, but it speaks volumes about the Netherlands’ colonial project, and how the Dutch sought to portray their activities abroad. The print invites viewers to imagine the colonies as sites of productivity and order. Tobacco, a luxury good, was cultivated through forced labor. The image elides the violence of colonial extraction by focusing on an idealized landscape. The plantation is meticulously manicured, and the local population appear only as servants or are completely absent. There’s a chilling contrast between the pleasant scene depicted and the exploitation required to create it. The tobacco plantation, presented here as a source of national pride, carries a legacy of inequality and oppression. This image prompts us to consider the human cost of colonial wealth.