The Erasure of Non-Western Creatives

The impact left on art around the wold after the colonial era was immense. In this section of my research, I compared modern, non-Western art to that from my previous research. After World Wars I and II, many European colonies slowly won their won independence, or their oppressors began to back out. While these regions were set on the path of being independent countries again, they faced countless setbacks, economically, politically, and socially, which they are still recovering from today. Through these rough times, art was no longer a priority and had lesser value, as people were more focused on survival. The art that was created was incredibly influenced by European and christian ideals. I focused on two South Asian artists as examples:  Amrita Sher-Gil was half Indian and half Hungarian. She grew up in India but was able to attend art school in France, since she was half European and had the privilege to do so. Her art style is very "Western" and she was influenced by art...

  In this next part of my research, I tried to zoom out from just art and figure out, what is colonialism, really? Definitely more than just one people occupying another. Who are the colonizers, and who are the colonized? In 1914, the peak of colonialism, over half the world was controlled by another, usually European, country. Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Japan, and of course, the United Kingdom all claimed colonies around this time. The Europeans controlled numerous African, Asian, South American, and Polynesian regions (basically every continent excluding Europe), and the borders they drew are still used to distinguish maps today. Just as how these borders prevail, many other aspects of the colonial era are still prevalent in the non-western world today.  The Caryatids of Erechtheion  5 of 6 Caryatids at the Acropolis Museum 6th Caryatid displayed in the British Museum Colonizers stole art and history from each region of the world, and often preven...

I began my research by studying the art produced in different regions before being impacted by colonialism. They all had very different art styles and expressed unique ideas/stories, illustrating the topics that are prioritized and held with importance in those countries/regions. I specifically focused on Polynesia, the Sub-Indian contient, and African regions, as they have been especially impacted by colonialism throughout history.  Drumsticks used with Ceremonial Drums from the Austral Is Polynesian art had the commonality of being functional. They often used the natural resources available to them, such as wood and fibers, and created ornate objects such as maps, drums, quilts, etc. They also practiced traditional Polynesian tattoos, symbolizing achievements, history, family.  South Asian art however, was often hand-painted illustrations that were mostly religious, depicting Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist motifs and stories.  Pre-Colonial African art used gold, bronze, an...

Through this blog, I  will explore the effects of colonialism on asian/non-western art. As we all know, colonialism has  impacted every corner of the world greatly, whether directly or indirectly. However, one topic  often overlooked is art. I am interested in this topic because I believe the major cause and effect  presented through colonialism should be explored in every aspect of life, and art specifically,  because it has accompanied humanity since the beginning of time and there is much we can  learn from it, as it tells stories in countless forms. Many times, people fail to recognize that, just as  there are standards of beauty, there are also standards of art in this world. However, we must explore  who set these standards? The standards set long ago still have  a great impact on artists around the world today. In order to gather information for this  project, it must first be acknowledged that there are several layers to this top...