Groep soldaten loopt over een bosweg 1852 - 1906

Editor: This etching, "Troops Walking Along a Forest Road" by Emilie Rolin-Jacquemijns, made sometime between 1852 and 1906, feels heavy, almost like the weight of history pressing down. All that dark ink… what can we read into this? Curator: Note how the regiment almost disappears into the forest; figures swallowed by the landscape. Does that imagery remind you of anything? Editor: I’m not sure, maybe a feeling of vulnerability? Of being consumed? Curator: Indeed. Forests in folklore are often places of transformation, danger, the unconscious. And what about the soldiers themselves as symbols? Are they conquerors? Victims? Notice their anonymity, their facelessness. The cultural memory of armies isn't always heroic, is it? Sometimes it reflects a collective trauma, a loss of identity within a larger, often oppressive, structure. Consider what purpose those forests serve: are they just a place to wander, or also places where those soldiers could be hidden for mobilization purposes. What do the soldiers represent for you? Editor: That’s a lot to think about. They seem like everyman, or Every-Soldier in this context. They just *are*; walking along the road without a specific purpose… like anonymous figures fulfilling orders. It gives it a feeling of emptiness and I didn’t catch it on the first viewing. Curator: Exactly. That path through the forest could symbolize not just a physical journey, but a psychological one, a journey into the darker aspects of human nature, obedience without question. What we learn from imagery is always evolving through time and lived experiences. Editor: I’m going to keep that in mind for next time. I’m already thinking of other images to use these lenses on! Curator: Splendid! Because, ultimately, we decide the meaning.