Gezicht op Kandy, Sri Lanka before 1899

Curator: This unassuming print, titled "Gezicht op Kandy, Sri Lanka," dating back to before 1899 and credited to E. Castelein, sits innocuously in this book. It is fascinating, isn't it? Editor: It's a fairly standard landscape image; the lush vegetation cascading down toward the town below evokes a sense of exotic serenity. Given the era, it strikes me as pretty straightforward and documentary in its style. How do you interpret this work within its historical and social context? Curator: Well, I see this print less as a purely objective landscape and more as a cultural artifact deeply embedded in the history of colonialism and orientalism. The late 19th century saw an explosion of such imagery consumed by Europeans. Editor: So, it’s not really about the place itself? Curator: Precisely. Images like this played a crucial role in constructing a specific Western vision of the East—romanticized, often exoticized, and ultimately reinforcing the power dynamics between colonizer and colonized. This particular view, carefully composed and reproduced as a print, served to create and circulate a particular idea of Kandy and, by extension, Sri Lanka, to a European audience. It helped shape public perception and justified colonial endeavors. Does it change how you see the picture? Editor: Yes, completely. I was focused on the scene's tranquility, but knowing its social function, it feels much more loaded. Thanks, I hadn't thought about that element. Curator: Exactly, looking beyond the surface of landscape art helps see it for what it truly is.