Brazilwood, Indigenous Knowledge, and Extractivism
Visualizing Nature in 16th- and 17th-century Brazil
This project reconstructs Dutch participation in the 16th- and 17th-century brazilwood trade through objects and archival materials in the Rijksmuseum’s collection, and explores how Dutch landscape painting enabled European extraction of this resource.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Visual culture played a vital role in enabling European extraction of resources in the colonial Americas, facilitating the transformation of new environments into ‘commodities’ and Indigenous peoples into ‘labour forces’. This project examines 16th- and 17th-century extraction of brazilwood, a red dyewood, and the representation of the Brazilian tropical rainforest in Dutch visual media. At the Rijksmuseum, the investigation will address the material history of brazilwood through object study using the collection. This research includes an exploration of Amsterdam’s pioneering Rasphuis prison, where prisoners processed brazilwood into powder as part of a work reform programme. Additionally, it will include study of the Rijksmuseum’s collection of Frans Post’s paintings of Brazil’s landscapes and its Indigenous inhabitants, with the goal of deconstructing European attitudes toward nature and Indigenous peoples.
AIM OF THE PROJECT
This project will become a part of the larger dissertation, which situates the brazilwood industry and the representation of Brazilian nature in a wider European context. At a time when loosening environmental regulations are leading to the destruction of Brazil’s tropical forests on a massive scale, this research will forge new connections between the histories of art-making, European colonizers, Indigenous peoples and the environment.
Researchers
Erin Wrightson
e.wrightson@rijksmuseum.nl
Dr. Anton C.R. Dreesmann Fellow
Stephanie Archangel
Curator of History
Research Advisor