Het wedervinden van het eenig overgebleven kind van den vermoorden resident van den Berg 1817 - 1819

Daniël Veelwaard created this print, "The Rediscovery of the Only Surviving Child of the Murdered Resident van den Berg," sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century. It depicts a Dutch colonial scene, likely in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. The print offers a glimpse into the complex interplay of power, identity, and colonial history. The artist invites us to consider the human cost of colonial expansion, but through a very particular lens. The recovery of the child, orphaned by violence, evokes an emotional appeal, yet it is framed within a narrative of colonial authority and presumed benevolence. The child, positioned centrally, becomes a symbol, perhaps of innocence rescued, but also of the colonial project’s supposed civilizing mission. Consider the racial and cultural dynamics at play: the clear visual distinction between the colonizers and the colonized, the asymmetry of power inherent in the scene, and the underlying assumptions about whose lives are valued and whose stories are told.