Pelom Pea c. 1660

Wouter Schouten created this pen drawing called "Pelom Pea," sometime in the 17th century. It depicts a busy scene with boats on a river, and crowds of people on the shore. The sketch likely refers to a specific event, possibly a ceremony or festival, considering its location and time. It reveals insights into the social and cultural dynamics between the Dutch colonizers and the local population. Schouten was a surgeon in service of the Dutch East India Company. Visual material like this would have brought a certain sense of the ‘exotic’ back to Europe. The drawing invites us to consider the context of Dutch colonialism in Southeast Asia. Who is being represented and how? What power dynamics are at play? To further understand this image, we could consult historical records from the Dutch East India Company, accounts of travelers, and studies of Dutch colonialism in Southeast Asia.