2- What does Colonialism Mean, Really?

 

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 prevented natives from practicing their own cultural/religious traditions. The pictures showcase the unfortunate fate of the Caryatids of Erechtheion, where five of the six daughters of Athens are in their home country, preserved at the Museum of Acropolis. However, one of their sisters is alone at the British Museum, stolen away from her home and people. This is only one example of how colonialism created cracks in history.

Anything that did not align with the ideals of the occupiers would often be stolen or destroyed, resulting in immense losses of culture and history. Most of the time, Europeans went out of their way to convert others to Christianity, but without giving much of a choice. Colonization is not just controlling land, it is the erasure of the natives who have grown with the land. Language, history education, culture, religion, and tradition are all eliminated in order for the colonized to assimilate and fit in to the template that the colonizers have offered (enforced). In the endless list of things lost, one will also find art. Art varies across cultures, and it can be oral, tangible, functional, ornate, is made from countless materials, and conveys the stories and topics most important to those who create it. The loss of art is arguably the loss of everything that makes up a people, a person, an identity as a whole and individually. 

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