Gezicht op de stad Banten, vanaf zee gezien 1775

Editor: This engraving, "Gezicht op de stad Banten, vanaf zee gezien," by Coenraet Decker, dated 1775, depicts a cityscape viewed from the sea. The detail achieved with simple lines is amazing, but it's all the ships and suggestion of busy activity on the water that catches my attention. What are your thoughts on this print? Curator: I'm particularly interested in the means of production and distribution here. Engravings like this weren't high art for the wealthy elite, but readily reproducible images offering a glimpse of distant lands and colonial activity to a wider European audience. The very act of engraving – the labor, the tools, the skill involved in meticulously carving into the metal plate – becomes a form of mapping and claiming territory. Editor: So, the process of creating the image itself speaks to the era's social context? Curator: Precisely. Think about what it took to create this image. Decker likely never even visited Banten. So where did the imagery come from? Other sketches, accounts from sailors? It's a layered process of mediation, filtering, and ultimately, constructing a view of a place for consumption back home. The inscription at the top mimics the very official and imposing banners that colonizers were prone to use as their emblems. Consider the power dynamics inherent in visually possessing a city in this manner. What do you think of the way labor is seen--or unseen--in this work? Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way. It is interesting to think about the hidden labour in creating this object that has become part of the final piece. Curator: The "unseen" labour, is precisely what prints like these erase from their pretty surfaces and the circulation they enable. This engraving invites a deep inquiry into colonial processes. Editor: This makes me see the artwork with a whole new appreciation for how it functioned in society!