The Princess Badroulbadour 1908

Curator: This is "The Princess Badroulbadour" by Sir William Rothenstein. It's quite a large painting, over a meter wide, currently residing at the Tate. What's your first take? Editor: It feels like a stage. These children are performing roles, playing with costume and identity. Look at the orientalist dressing-up, it's rife with colonial echoes, wouldn't you say? Curator: Absolutely, but also, it’s just children playing. The artist's children, I imagine. I wonder about the title; is it mocking or celebrating this childlike appropriation? Editor: It’s complicated, isn't it? The artist clearly signals a fascination with the exotic, but from a removed, privileged perspective. It's an era of empire rendered domestic. Curator: Indeed. There’s a kind of innocent playfulness that’s inseparable from the history and power dynamics. It makes for an intriguing tension, don't you think? Editor: For sure. It leaves me grappling with how we frame childhood and cultural exchange, even today. Curator: It reminds me that art is not neutral. It is a complex layering.