ABSTRACT

The article examines the uses of visual culture and visual representations of time in two major public anniversaries in nineteenth-century colonial Southeast Asia: the 35^th anniversary of Singapore in 1854 and the 250^th anniversary of Batavia (now Jakarta) in 1869. The authorities in these two major colonial cities, capitals of the British Straits Settlements and the Dutch East Indies respectively, made use of these occasions to celebrate colonial rule, but also to project specific and contrasting messages to their intended audiences. These messages were embodied in a range of visual cues, representations, and events throughout the anniversary programmes, including images, sculptures, decorations, architecture, theatrical performances, and balls. Analysing this range of visual materials and focusing on the fleeting and spatially specific experience of the ceremonies rather than durable material representations, this article shows that the two anniversaries embodied strikingly different conceptualisations of historical time and imperial self-fashioning: one broadly presentist and forward-looking, the other far more past-oriented. Connecting these cultural differences to the diverging historical circumstances of the two colonies at the time, the article argues that imperial visual culture, especially in relation to practices of commemoration, was both global and transnational in its re-employment of metropolitan models on the one hand and highly locally specific on the other, responding to needs that were specific to the time and the place.

摘要

这篇文章探讨了在 19 世纪东南亚殖民时期的两个主要公共纪念日：1854 年新加坡建国 35 周年和 250 周年^{，视觉文化的使用和时间的视觉表现。}1869 年巴达维亚（现在的雅加达）周年纪念日。这两个主要殖民城市的当局，分别是英属海峡殖民地和荷属东印度群岛的首府，利用这些场合庆祝殖民统治，但也传达了具体和对比的信息给他们的目标受众。这些信息体现在整个周年活动中的一系列视觉提示、表现和活动中，包括图像、雕塑、装饰、建筑、戏剧表演和舞会。通过分析这一系列视觉材料，并关注仪式的短暂和特定空间体验，而不是持久的材料表现，本文表明，这两个纪念日体现了历史时间和帝国自我塑造的截然不同的概念：一个具有广泛的现实主义和前瞻性，另一个则更加面向过去。将这些文化差异与当时两个殖民地不同的历史环境联系起来，文章认为，帝国视觉文化，尤其是与纪念实践相关的，一方面在重新利用大都市模式方面具有全球性和跨国性。另一方面，高度本地化，响应特定于时间和地点的需求。