Prentbriefkaart aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1923

Curator: Here we have what appears to be a postcard, or “prentbriefkaart” as they say in Dutch, sent to Philip Zilcken, likely penned around 1923. It's crafted with ink on paper using a pen, and it looks incredibly intimate, doesn’t it? Editor: It does have this immediacy that transcends its postal purpose. What strikes me, even before deciphering the faded script, is how loaded a seemingly banal object becomes when considered as a trace of inter-personal relationships marked by geographical displacement and the technologies facilitating them in the interwar period. Curator: Precisely! You immediately sense the emotional and physical distance inherent in sending such a small token across borders. And imagine the recipient holding it then, the weight of connection across space, mediated by paper and ink. The artist, Vittorio Pica perhaps, their thoughts becoming tangible… Editor: It also speaks to broader issues of access. Epistolary exchanges such as these required a degree of literacy, time, and economic resources, situating its author and addressee in a privileged position within their respective social stratifications, an epistolary class as it were. What social barriers were potentially challenged or reinforced through the simple act of sending such a card? Curator: Oh, a layered perspective, certainly. Think about how the writing itself seems almost performative; it's handwriting meant for specific eyes, conveying nuances beyond the mere words. Is there nostalgia present? Longing? It’s all somehow imprinted within those delicate lines. Editor: Right. Each carefully chosen word becomes a negotiation between revealing and concealing. The very act of writing implies an audience but within the parameters of sender and recipient, there still remains potential ambiguities relating to, for example, power, influence, affection... The stamp, the address meticulously inscribed, it all weaves together to reveal social textures that the artwork, in its humble silence, urges us to unearth. Curator: So true! In this tiny object we hold histories of communication, distance, maybe even of hidden emotions. The simple act of sending this card creates this tangible aura of humanity reaching out. Editor: Indeed, something as apparently ephemeral as this "Prentbriefkaart" invites us to explore far reaching themes touching on gendered writing practices, diaspora, identity and of course, the colonial gaze inherent in the very practice of travelling to, describing, and eventually appropriating new territories.