Recall/Recalibrate investigates how and from where histories of design have been written and taught and departs from the necessity to ‘recalibrate’. What does design history look like when we start from the so-called ‘ethical policy’ at the turn of the twentieth century? How can we understand these ‘ethics’ in relation to the expansion of empire, and how did this materialize through arts and crafts education? What stories can we recall and re-member when we understand the colony as central to the project of design? How can we gain an understanding of the ‘cultural archive’ informed by imperialism and the way it defines the present? On this platform you will find images, essays and other resources that mark starting points for a design history otherwise.
Image from: J.A. Loebèr, Bamboe-ornament in Nieuw-Guinea, 1919-1929, in: M. Simon Thomas, De Leer van het Ornament: Versieren volgens voorschrift ~1850-1930, Amsterdam, 1996.
‘[...] a dominant way in which the Dutch think of themselves, as being a small, but just, ethical nation; color-blind, thus free of racism; as being inherently on the moral and ethical high ground, thus a guiding light to other folks and nations.’ Gloria Wekker, 2016Carel Lion Cachet, Chair covered with batik parchment in a red, white and black diamond pattern, the Netherlands, 1910. Rijksmuseum, BK1974-52.
Europeans at a champagne bar during a ‘fancy fair’ fundraiser for the Institution for the Blind, Bandung, 1933. Collectie Wereldmuseum TM-ALB-0715-5.
Introduction
Ethical Imperialism
Hair comb (petat), obtained during the conquest of Klungkung, Bali, 1908. Collectie Wereldmuseum, RV-1684-20.
[By the turn of the century, the Dutch] ‘aimed at acquiring de facto political control of the entire Indonesian archipelago and the development of both country and people under Dutch leadership and after western example’. Elsbeth Locher-Scholten, 1981
Enforced planting of sugar cane due to the Cultivation System, on the Malang plain, Krebet area, 1870. Leiden University Libraries, KITLV 2572.General van Heutsz with his staff at Batè Ilië right after the storming, Aceh, 3 February 1901. Collectie Wereldmuseum, TM-10018875.
A Firm Nudge: Politics of Reform through ‘inlandsche kunstnijverheid’
by Rosa te VeldeThe making of plaster molds from Indonesian temples (including Candi Sari and the Borobodur) in ‘de Vormerij’, Museum Kunstnijverheid Haarlem, 1899, in: Simon Thomas, 1996.
J.E. Jasper & Mas Pirngadie, pattern of a chair mat from Aceh, 1912.Staged photo of children braiding hats, Tangerang, 1910.
Wicker baskets, Java, ca. 1936. Leiden University Libraries, KITLV 804549.
‘The idea was that, by financially supporting those with European ancestry, and teaching them practical skills such as carpentry, Indo-Europeans could be turned into a useful middle class. In order to become ‘fully Dutch’, they were forced to abandon their maternal indigenous culture, language, and religion, and embrace Dutch colonial (Christian) culture instead.’ Marjolein van PageeTwo Europeans in spotless white suits overlooking the processing of sugar cane, place unknown, ca. 1915. Leiden University Libraries, KITLV 81443.
Missionary Indigenous craft school, Batak, Sumatra, ca. 1920. Leiden University Libraries, KITLV 81443.Dangerous Competitors: The Dutch Ethical Policy’ (1901) and the Establishment of Craft Schools in East Java
by Marjolein van Pagee
Decolonising the Myth of Kartini
by Saut SitumorangBook cover of Door Duisternis tot Licht: Gedachten van Raden Adjeng Kartini, 1911.
Book cover of Door Duisternis tot Licht: Gedachten van Raden Adjeng Kartini, 1911.
‘Kartini’s feminism is an example of what is called colonial or imperialist feminism, an ideology that uses feminist rhetoric to justify European imperialism.’ Saut Situmorang
Women making lace, probably at the Amai Setia School in Kota Gedang, 1915. Leiden University Libraries, KITLV 5557.
‘Ieuh barudak, ari jadi awewe kudu sagala bisa, ambeh bisa hirup!’ (Listen girls, to be a woman you have to know how to do everything, so you are prepared for life’), Dewi Sartika, 1904Colonial Exhibition the Woman, Semarang, 1914. Design by Albert Hahn. Rijksmuseum RP-P-OB-18.031.Indigenous girls’ school Kaoetamaan Istri, Bandung, 1920. Leiden University Libraries, KITLV A34.
Dewi Sartika and Ruhana Kuddus’ Craft(wo)manship: Navigating Colonial Emancipation
by Raistiwar Pratama
COLOPHON
AUTHORS
Marjolein van Asdonck
Raistiwar Pratanama
Saut Situmorang
Marjolein van Pagee
Rosa te Velde
READERS
Fitria Jelyta
Lisa Baumgarten
Esmee Schoutens
EDITING/PROOFREADING
Marjolein van Pagee
Harriet Foyster
IMAGE RESEARCH
Rosa te Velde
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Zuzana KostelanskáCC BY-NC-ND
This project is published under CC BY-NC-ND license, which enables reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
Some of the texts were published before by the Wereldmuseum (‘Ethical Imperialism’ and ‘A Firm Nudge: Politics of Reform through ‘inlandsche kunstnijverheid’ by Rosa te Velde and A rejuvenation cure?: Inventing Yogya Silver, ‘saving’ a perishing Javanese industry, by Marjolein van Asdonck)
2025
This project was funded by Het Stimuleringsfonds voor de Creatieve Industrie.