Rembrandt Today
Aspects of an Exhibition of 17th-Century Dutch Art
Rembrandt and his contemporaries were fascinated by the distant lands from which imported goods flowed into the Netherlands in the 17th century. Persian rugs, Chinese porcelain, and Japanese garments all found their way into their paintings. Today, however, we're aware that the other side of this foreign encounter was not depicted: the imbalance of power between cultures that gave rise to slavery, violence, exploitation, and trade wars. Four hundred years later, even those aspects that were represented raise questions that go beyond the realm of art history. In the visual world of Dutch artists, the Orient remained a construct of props, stereotypes, and imagination. Foreign and exotic objects were valued and integrated into their lifestyle, but West and East did not meet on equal footing. The exhibition offers an opportunity to interrogate this attitude, which persists to this day in large portions of the Western world.
In a series of five conversations, five aspects of Eurocentrism are discussed. Each conversation takes a work of art from the exhibition as its point of departure for the exploration of questions that are still relevant today. With Stephanie Archangel, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Tahir Della, Initiative for Black People in Germany; Renata Motta, Free University, Berlin; Anna von Rath, Postcolonial Potsdam; and Kadir Sancı, University of Potsdam.
Conversation with Prof. Dr. Renata C. Motta, sociologist and Assistant Professor at the Institute for Latin American Studies of the Freie Universität Berlin
After the founding of the Dutch East India Company in 1602, the Netherlands experienced a tremendous influx of commodities from distant lands. This worldwide trade can be described as the beginning of globalization. The shift from subsistence economy to consumer culture was a permanent one and laid the foundation for a modern-day sense of entitlement.
Conversation with Kadir Sancı, research assistant at the Universität Potsdam and imam of the Bet- und Lehrhaus Petriplatz in Berlin
In the seventeenth century, religion and the questions of power associated with it gave rise to countless wars and violent conflicts, both among different Christian denominations and with respect to Islam. Although the religion of Islam was viewed by Christians as false and fundamentally adversarial, it was still a subject of interest, as evidenced by various translations of the Qur’an into Dutch.
Conversation with Stephanie Archangel, Junior Curator of History, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
In many paintings of the 17th century, dark-skinned people are depicted, often to enhance the exotic impression of the scenes. Such persons rarely constituted the main protagonists, were seldom individualized, and were often shown in a subordinate role.
You can find the English subtitled interview here.
Conversation with Tahir Della, Initiative of Black People in Germany
In the 17th century, many Dutch citizens had their portraits painted in “oriental” clothing; Rembrandt and other artists outfitted their models in turbans and gold jewelry. Numerous paintings bear witness to the high value placed on oriental rugs and other foreign imports such as porcelain or Japanese lacquer. The incorporation of elements from other cultures into one's own lifestyle is referred to as “appropriation.”
Conversation with Anna von Rath, Cultural Studies, University of Potsdam, co-founder of the initiative Postcolonial Potsdam
In Rembrandt's day, the term “Orient” still referred to the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor as well as India, China, and Japan. Rembrandt and his contemporaries frequently used motifs associated with the “Orient” in their paintings. Since the 1970s, however, the term has become controversial, since the "Orientalism" to which it gave rise implies an attitude of Western superiority rooted in colonialism.