Ruiterspel met grote bal, Medan Sumatra c. 1900 - 1905

Curator: Immediately, I feel the dust of the arena. It smells of grass and leather, like an old saddle. The figures seem almost… miniature, don't they? Like toy soldiers, meticulously arranged on a vast green plane. Editor: This print, dating from around 1900 to 1905, captures a game of horseback riders in Medan, Sumatra, then part of the Dutch East Indies. It’s credited to Heinrich Ernst & Co. The original photograph probably intended to showcase colonial power. Curator: Ah, so that's why there's this staged stiffness about them! It makes them all the more curious. I find my eye is immediately drawn to how each rider, in that long line, appears suspended, frozen. Does the composition evoke ideas of the role of the colonizers and their attempts to restrain the land and local people? Editor: Absolutely. Group portraits of colonial officials and military personnel served to solidify their authority and project an image of unified strength. These images often masked the underlying tensions and inequalities inherent in colonial rule. Think of the staging as more than aesthetic. Curator: I’m really compelled by this sense of scale—a field that seems to swallow the players whole. It amplifies that feeling of their power, right? That imposed dominance over the landscape, almost comical now through the lens of history. And look how the line of riders recedes into the distance; the vanishing point gives a certain rhythm. The details almost fade away into an idea, or a statement… Editor: Yes, that receding line can also represent the far-reaching impact and endurance they envisioned for their colonial enterprise. The "game" itself could be viewed as a metaphor for the strategic, calculated nature of their control over resources and people. It certainly wasn’t all fun and games. Curator: I hadn't thought of the riders fading into statement but how else would you interpret these scenes today, from an activist point of view? Editor: Well, the archival photo speaks to a problematic past; now it's essential to re-examine its implications. Viewing this image means not just noting its composition but also addressing its context. Whose story truly gets told, and whose gets erased in this framed memory? What were the power dynamics present in its moment of capture? Curator: A chilling snapshot of control, seen through the mists of time. I'm almost shivering… Editor: Exactly. We should allow ourselves to experience those complex feelings and channel them into a quest for dialogue and change.