Shipping posters and the portrayal of colonial life in the Dutch East Indies An analysis of the imageries of Dutch shipping posters with a relation to the Dutch East Indies, 1870 – 1940.

The first part of this thesis analyses the imageries of Dutch shipping posters that share a link with the Dutch East Indies and were created in the period 1870-1940. This link was either expressed visually – the imagery depicts colonial life in the Dutch East Indies – or by alluding to the colony, in which case the imagery does not depict the colony, but the relationship is made clear in other ways, for example through textual elements. The set of primary sources that forms the base of this research is a set of 39 shipping posters, from the collection of the Maritime Museum Rotterdam. The set includes posters from Dutch shipping companies that were active in the Dutch East Indies: the Rotterdamsche Lloyd, the Stoomvaart-Maatschappij Nederland, the Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij and the Java-China-Japan Lijn. The aim is to reveal why these companies advertised with posters and what factors determined their imagery. This research has revealed a common thread in the imageries of Dutch shipping posters with a link to the Dutch East Indies, which is; the combination of underlying commercial messages of the companies and whatever was popular amongst the public. These commercial messages – which could be hidden for the receiver – mostly focussed on placing the shipping company in a positive light, for example by hinting at; a high standard, safety, the speed and/or relaxation of the journey and the power and technological prowess of the ocean liners. To attract as much gazes as possible, the posters also often reflected the trends that were popular amongst the targeted public. Which is why the art styles of these posters shift in accordance with the changing tastes of the Western public, but also why the colonial aspects in these posters were heavily romanticized. In this work, the over-romanticization of colonial life was proven to be, partly, the result of the ability of the Dutch tourism sector to recognize a certain Western tendency; the romanticist feelings of longing back to a more ‘authentic’ and ‘traditional’ society. These posters reflect popular themes and ideas of the time they were made and provide insight into the commercial messages of shipping companies. These aspects make them useful primary sources for historical research and fascinating objects for an exhibition. Therefore, the second part of this thesis focuses on a potential exhibition that could be made with these primary sources. The goal – amongst others – of this exhibition is to have people reflect on the tendency of shipping companies to use shipping posters, and advertisement in general, to over-romanticize colonial life, and in doing so, might have played a role in the maintenance of colonial stereotypes and the colonial system in general.