WE MUST DECENTER THE COLONIZER’S PERSPECTIVE.
When producing any form of work it is critical to avoid reinforcing the perspective of the colonizer. Too often history has been written from the white settler narrative that portrays a singular viewpoint derived from privileged power. Thus, it is in our power to stop neglecting the voices of those marginalized. In creating work that avoids such racist narratives we gain the power to rewrite a falsified history that has been told over and over again. Throughout my zine I attempt to explore the colonizer perspective and the detrimental effects it creates.
On the first page I decided to pair a painting from Basquiat’s “Defacement”: The Untold Story exhibition with a quote from Zoë Samudzi. Samudzi writes in We Need A Decolonized, Not a ‘Diverse’ Education “One of my favorite quotes is an Ewe-Mina (people from Benin, Ghana and Togo) proverb: ‘Until the story of the hunt is told by the lion, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” This quote highlights the importance of breaking down the singular story as without doing so we are only exposed to one perspective. I specifically chose the painting in relation to this as the exhibition commemorates the death of Michael Stewart who was killed by the New York Transit Police. The painting, and the exhibition, both focus on displaying police brutality from the perspective of the victims.
On the second page I chose to use a quote from Tommy Pico’s Nature Poem. Artifacts are commonly seen as a preservation of history, yet, this is not really preservation as colonialists stole these “goods” for themselves. Historians often praise relics and antiquities for being protected for us to view today but this seems to also serve as a justification of what the colonialists were doing. However, now many are demanding that museums return such relics to their rightful owners as exemplified with the image of the Afo-A-Kom sculpture that was stolen and sold to a New York gallery owner, Aaron Furman. The sculpture was finally returned to the Kom people. It is important to be aware of not praising those who conserved these artifacts for they were stolen.
For the third page I used an advertisement by the United States Department of the Interior published in 1911. This took place right after the colonization of indigenous peoples land and the advertisement specifically sold areas in which indigenous people lived.
As for my final page, I chose to use a famous painting that depicts when the pilgrims first met the indigenous people. This painting displays a much “friendlier” version than the harsh reality, as they share goods and welcome each other with embrace. This “savior” complex is an overused trope of the colonizer perspective. Thus, in an attempt to deconstruct this, I chose to overlay the image with another painting that illustrates the harsh reality of the pilgrims invading the indigenous people’s land, and in the process terrorizing them.
Citations
Page 1
Photo:
Tulloch, Amiri. “Basquiat's Defacement (Feat. Chaedria LaBouvier).” Royal State of Mind, 13 Mar. 2019, www.royalstateofmind.com/2019/03/basquiats-defacement-feat-chaedria-labouvier/.
Quote:
Samudzi, Zoë. We Need A Decolonized Not A "Diverse" Education. Harlot Media.
Page 2
Photo & Writing:
Scher, Robin. “Back to Where They Once Belonged: Proponents of Repatriation of African Artworks Take Issue with the Past-and Present and Future.” ARTnews.com, 18 Nov. 2019, www.artnews.com/art-news/news/back-belonged-proponents-repatriation-african-artworks-take-issue-past-present-future-10550/.
Quote:
Pico, Tommy. Nature Poem. Tin House Books, 2017.
Page 3
Photo:
Fisher, Walter L, et al. Indian land for sale: get a home of your own, easy payments. Perfect title. Possession within thirty days. Fine lands in the West. [United States Publisher not identified, 1911] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2015657622/>.
Page 4
Photo:
History.com Editors. “Narragansett.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 10 Mar. 2010, www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/the-narragansett.
Photo:
Dimuro, Gina. “It's Likely The Deadliest Native American Massacre In U.S. History - But It's Largely Forgotten Today.” All That's Interesting, All That's Interesting, 27 Sept. 2019, allthatsinteresting.com/bear-river-massacre.
Photo:
“Sand Creek Massacre – ORIGINAL.” Fine Art | American | Presidential | Civil War | Andy Thomas, 20 Apr. 2018, andythomas.com/product/sand-creek-massacre-original/.
Photo:
Rosenbaum, Ron. “The Shocking Savagery of America's Early History.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 1 Mar. 2013, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-shocking-savagery-of-americas-early-history-22739301/.
Quote (rendered):
Samudzi, Zoë. We Need A Decolonized Not A "Diverse" Education. Harlot Media.