Captured on the Gallery

Abstract

The outcomes of the recently published research Onafhankelijkheid, Dekolonisatie, Geweld en Oorlog in Indonesië, 1945-1950 unveil the practices of violent Dutch armed forces during the Indonesian National Revolution and colonial period. These new revelations prove that there is still a lot to learn about the complex social systems of different ethnicities, classes and genders in the former Dutch East Indies during the colonisation. In the early 19th century, the Netherlands colonised the former Dutch East Indies (now the Republic of Indonesia). Dutch families and individuals inhabited the former Dutch East Indies from colonisation until the Indonesian National Revolution. With the introduction of the Kodak camera for private use at the end of the 19th century, family life in the former Dutch Indies was choreographed, captured and documented through photographs. The galleries of the family homes, where domestic scenes are enlivened in the comfortable shelter by walls on three sides of the outside room, are often the backdrop of these photographs. Accordingly, “Captured on the Gallery” examines how Dutch and Indonesian women were portrayed on these galleries at the beginning of the 20th century. An image analysis based on preserved pictures by the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam provides insights into the gallery’s spatial features and how these concerned Dutch and Indonesian women. As a result of close examination, galleries can be considered a befitting place for the daily practices of both Dutch and Indonesian women. This result appertains to the gallery’s liminality that establishes a safe transitional space between indoors and outdoors. This liminal space allows women to simultaneously perform domestic work and connect with their surroundings. Moreover, pictures of the galleries prove that boundaries between Dutch families and their Indonesian domestic workers could dissolve and become explicitly pertinent. Altogether, the results of this research shed light on the ethnical, social and economic differences between Dutch and Indonesian women in the former Dutch East Indies.