Drie schijven met reliëf

These drawings of 'Drie schijven met reliëf' are by William H. Griggs, who lived during the Victorian era, a time marked by British colonialism and orientalism. Griggs, like many artists of his era, engaged with the visual cultures of colonized lands, here depicting three circles with reliefs. Consider the gaze through which these images are presented. How might the act of documenting and representing these reliefs reflect the power dynamics inherent in the colonial context? The detailed renderings, while seemingly objective, are inevitably shaped by the artist's cultural background and the prevailing attitudes towards non-Western cultures. Reflect on how these depictions might have contributed to constructing and reinforcing Western perceptions of the East. What stories do they tell, and whose voices are amplified or silenced in the process? How do our own positionality and knowledge impact the way we interpret these images today?