Bezoek aan een Afrikaanse koning, 1598 1617 - 1619

Curator: This engraving, "Bezoek aan een Afrikaanse koning, 1598," which translates to "Visit to an African King," dates from 1617-1619 and is attributed to an anonymous artist. Currently, it resides in the Rijksmuseum. It's executed with incredibly fine lines. What strikes you most about it? Editor: It’s the immediate tension in the composition that jumps out. The clear visual division between the horn-blowing European delegation on the left and the seated, nearly bare-chested African figures creates an instant sense of us versus them. Curator: Indeed, that contrast is quite deliberate. What cultural assumptions do you think the artist brings to bear on the image? The trumpets, the formality of dress—all suggest a very specific approach to diplomacy. Editor: Right, and the presence of the goat, seemingly presented as a gift. It reads as a commentary on cultural exchange that, frankly, feels deeply skewed. Is it offering or possibly something akin to a symbolic exchange related to beliefs or the economy? There is certainly a power imbalance visually highlighted in the scene. The act of presenting a gift or a sacrifice to another authority also plays on colonial narratives in similar accounts. Curator: Looking at it through that lens, I think this goes far beyond a mere depiction of an encounter. Consider the buildings in the background. Do they project what we understand to be seventeenth-century European ideas of "civilized" settlements versus "primitive" dwellings? The settlement is more organized; are these representations of actual events, or projections onto unfamiliar situations? Editor: Precisely. This image becomes less about historical record and more about justifying European presence and interactions through constructed imagery. It invites viewers to read these depictions of African societies through a biased European lens, shaping perception through visuals. I can’t help but question the implied narrative – what’s the power dynamic being portrayed here? Who has the right to chronicle, interpret, and broadcast it? Curator: Yes, you’re speaking about how visual culture at this time becomes instrumental for solidifying identity and constructing narratives about "other" cultures. Editor: Ultimately, the print offers us an early snapshot into how artistic representation contributes to constructing narratives of the colonizer and the colonized. I have found looking closer has just further made me question these accounts as opposed to believing in them as is. Curator: Reflecting on this piece has revealed deeper layers of understanding concerning cultural exchanges and the biases in historical artwork and art's instrumental role.