Hooischelf te Zoelmond, in de Betuwe 1812 - 1859

Curator: Immediately, there is an uncanny simplicity to the image—a kind of silent, still energy—it is very grey! Editor: Indeed. This is a pencil drawing titled "Hooischelf te Zoelmond, in de Betuwe" by Evert Doublet, probably created sometime between 1812 and 1859. Doublet captured a hay barn in a rural landscape with remarkable clarity. What speaks to the process for you? Curator: Well, consider how elemental this structure is. The stacked logs, the thatched roof – they're clearly of the land. It embodies a close, perhaps even an intimate connection with natural resources and with their use. One wonders what types of labor might have constructed such a functional, sturdy construction. Editor: That’s where its intersectional narrative emerges. Think of the rural working class during this period; those deeply entrenched in the rhythms of the agricultural cycle. These landscapes often obfuscate realities of labor that were far from pastoral and idyllic. This image, though seemingly straightforward, acts as a record of labor distribution. Curator: It speaks to larger dialogues about land ownership, rural-urban dynamics and, above all, our increasingly complicated and at times fraught connection with where food and our natural resources are made to become things that can be used. Editor: I agree. The hay barn is placed centrally and looks deliberately situated as though documenting a change brought about by an individual to affect their environment and society. Curator: So, we see a meditation on how working and labor can and do bring us face to face with complex ethical issues. How the means of creating our resources is anything but apolitical. Editor: Yes. By considering the hands that built it, the landscape it inhabits, we unravel broader societal stories and hopefully can begin to recognize a web of implications involved in even the simplest images and tools around us.