Nineteenth-Century Criticism

Willem Bosch (1798-1874) was a medical doctor who worked in the Dutch East Indies during the 19th century where he saw the harsh effects of the colonial 'cultivation system' policy, which made the population to face famine and disease. This led Bosch to voice organised protest against the Dutch government. Inspired by the British legendary Anti-Corn Law League, he established a pressure group in the Netherlands that was to speak up for the rights of the Javanese. His movement came to represent the ‘ethical movement’ in colonial politics, in line with other more famous protesters of the time, such as the writer Multatuli or the liberal politician Van Hoevell. This movement acknowledged that the Dutch had a debt of honour towards the Indonesians, and therefore had to raise the living standards of the native population, yet it was still defined from a moral superior position, as it did not fundamentally criticise the premise of colonialism.

Musician Ernst Jansz was inspired by the story of Willem Bosch to compose a protest song against the injustices and hardship that people experienced during colonialism in the Dutch East Indies. The song 'The ballad of Sarina en Kromo' shifts the perspective to the colonialized people, allowing for a more fundamental criticism on the premise of colonialism. The song was performed twice as part of the process, and appeals to the emotional impact of the colonial regime. Like Willem Bosch in his time, Ernst Jansz also tries to mobilise people by voicing a personalised story.

Filmmaker Sjoerd Sijsma captured this first part of the process – Maartje Janse’s publishing on Willem Bosch and the performance of Ernst Jansz - in a video pamphlet. He complemented the film with historical images, he was able to find in public archives. Sjoerd’s reflection on this visual source material provides insight into how the colony and the people were perceived. He found a voyeuristic style of filming through which the broad acceptance of the phenomenon of (forced) cohabitation to which the ballad of Sarina and Kromo refers seems more comprehensible.