Tuin en veranda van het Medan-Hotel before 1898

Carl J. Kleingrothe captured the Medan-Hotel garden and veranda in this photograph, a scene dominated by the towering presence of palm trees. The palm, a symbol of victory and eternal life in ancient Rome, here evokes a sense of tropical abundance and colonial exoticism. Consider how the palm has been refigured over time. In Christian art, it signified martyrdom, whereas in the context of colonial hotels, it represented a constructed paradise, a controlled nature promising leisure. This duality echoes through history. We find it in ancient depictions of triumphant rulers, and later, in tourist brochures selling dreams of escape. The composition itself evokes a sense of enclosure and the allure of tropical idyll, subconsciously playing on our desires for paradise. As viewers, we're invited into this constructed reality, engaging in a deep, collective memory of idealized landscapes. Thus, the palm continues its journey, a symbol perpetually reshaped by culture, circumstance, and the subconscious desires it stirs within us.