Ontwerp voor een toneeldecor voor de Vlaamse opera Het Kapertje 1782 - 1837

This stage set design for the Flemish opera 'Het Kapertje', or 'The Little Privateer', was made with pen and watercolor by Pieter Barbiers around the turn of the 19th century. The drawing brings together craft and fine art, showing a comfortable domestic interior. The emphasis is on everyday objects – wooden furniture, barrels, and crockery – all carefully depicted. The room feels inhabited, not grand. You can almost smell the firewood burning in the hearth. The drawing would have been made in a workshop, with Barbiers leading a team of artisans to construct the scenery, based on this initial concept. Think about the labor involved in translating this two-dimensional design into a three-dimensional reality, the collaborative effort and skillful carpentry required to bring Barbiers' vision to life on stage. The design provides an insight into the material culture of the time. It reminds us that all theater is, at its heart, a form of making – a constructed reality, brought into being through skillful hands.