Een staat in wording

Photography:  Cas Oorthuys

Text:                  Albert de la Court

Design:             unknown

1947

Book of the month August 2025

The cover features a photo of a cheerful boy with a rolled-up map of Asia under his arm. Above, the title reads (in translation): ‘A State in the Making. Photo reportage by Cas Oorthuys. Text by Alb. de la Court’.

The book opens with several (naturally black-and-white) photos of meetings in March 1947 for the Linggadjati Agreement, including Sjahrir, Soekarno, Van Mook, and Schermerhorn. This agreement turned out to be unfavorable for the new republic, since the Netherlands still appropriated much land. Next is a photo of graffiti on a wall: "Freedom for all nations," captioned simply as "the goal." The message leaves no room for doubt. The same goes for an image of a young woman with a paper chain around her wrists, captioned "Chained Indonesia."

However, the bulk of the book consists of photos depicting daily life—in the streets, at school, on the land, in factories, hospitals, and in print shops where propaganda posters were made. There are also some images of people suffering from hunger, Dutch soldiers, and the white elite. Yet above all, there are images of self-assured men and women, and Indonesians in leadership positions. At the back, with a portrait of Dr. Marzoeki, head of medical services in Batavia, it reads: “Of course we can lead too; we have simply never been given the chance.”

Cas Oorthuys must have carried out his assignment to positively portray the Indonesians’ quest for independence with a sense of satisfaction. The nationalism rooted in communist ideas would certainly have appealed to him, as he himself sympathized with communism.

The photos, both large and small, are beautifully spread across the pages, integrated with captions and subheadings, alternately full-bleed and with white borders. It is a pity that the designer is not named. Perhaps the publisher, Uitgeverij Contact, employed in-house designers.

The texts and captions are by Albert de la Court, a publicist and government advisor on education. He writes that Queen (Wilhelmina) already in 1942 promised equality for all parts of the kingdom. And that, on August 17, 1945, two days after the Japanese capitulation, the Republic of Indonesia was proclaimed (by Soekarno).

De la Court’s introductory text reflects a sense of white superiority and a list of reasons justifying colonization. Yet he also notes: “A colonial power that relinquishes its former possession must fear an economic loss. Unless, through wise policy, the loss of the colony wins a friend and collaborator.”

The cover states that Oorthuys stayed on Java for this reportage for two months—this must have been in March and April 1947, so before the first Police Action (July 21 – August 5, 1947). There would later be a second Police Action (December 19, 1948 – January 5, 1949). Indonesia ultimately only became independent from the Netherlands on December 27, 1949.

In short, Een staat in wording (A State in the Making)  is a unique document of a time when the people of Indonesia were optimistic about imminent independence. The book can be found in the library of the Pennings Foundation.