Browse Collections (3 total)

• 3. Alternative Conservation and Heritage Practices in Equatorial Guinea. The Case of the Museum Felipe Osá Angüé

  This section of the exhibit offers a counterpoint to the imperial and colonizing practices in the museum by approaching the case of the Museum Felipe Osa Angüé. This museum illustrates alternative possibilities of narrating the histories of Equatorial Guinean people while taking distance of institutional practices of exhibiting and civilization discourses, all inherited by the current political regime.

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• 2. Neocolonial Politics in the Museum and Conflicting Identities in Equatorial Guinea

  The second section of the exhibit, "Neocolonial Politics of the Museum," aims to contextualize and critically examine the materials, texts, and policies that emanate from institutional artistic and educational spaces in Equatorial Guinea during the regime of Teodoro Obiang in the post-independence period.
  
  This section departs from a decolonial critique that, despite the end of formal colonial rule by Spain, politics of international collaboration have become an expression of neocolonial forms of cultural and economic influence in Equatorial Guinea. Within the fields of arts and education, intellectual and artistic expression in Equatorial Guinea remain heavily influenced by Western canons. This continues to shape the ways in which art is taught, evaluated, and displayed in museums and galleries, in addition to the cultural narratives that sustain the historical ties to the colonial past. While Western aesthetic standards and curatorial practices often result in the marginalization of black artists, their work is frequently framed through a Eurocentric lens, which can strip it of its cultural and historical context. Similarly, educational materials reflect this ongoing neocolonial influence. Textbooks and curricula often present history from a predominantly Western perspective, emphasizing European achievements while downplaying or distorting the rich histories and contributions of African societies. This not only skews students' understanding of their own heritage but also reinforces a Eurocentric worldview.
  
  The political rhetoric and policies of the Obiang regime further complicate the post-independence cultural landscape. The regime's promotion of a homogenized national identity, such as through the myth of Bantu Unity, mirrors colonial strategies of governance that sought to control and assimilate diverse populations. By promoting a unified identity that glosses over cultural diversity, the regime reinforces a simplified and controlled narrative of national identity that serves its own political ends. Igor Cusack’s insights into the regime's manipulation of colonial legacies provide a crucial perspective for this exhibition section. Cusack notes how the regime has "promoted the importance of Hispanic culture in the formation of the ‘nation’s’ cultural identity, while at the same time, it has unashamedly used Spain’s desire to perpetuate its own culture in Africa as a ploy in appealing for development aid." This dual strategy underscores how deeply embedded Western cultural influences remain, shaping both national identity and international relations in ways that benefit the regime.
  
  In summary, "Neocolonial Politics of the Museum" aims to uncover and critique these layers of influence, demonstrating how institutional spaces and policies continue to reflect and perpetuate colonial ideologies. By bringing these issues into context, the exhibition encourages viewers to question the narratives presented within these spaces and consider the ongoing impact of neocolonialism in shaping cultural and political life in Equatorial Guinea.

  Contributors: Price Lab for the Digital Humanities, University of Pennsylvania

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• 1. The Temptation of Empire

  Archives are not merely sources for extracting knowledge but generators of colonial knowledge. Anthropologist Ann Laura Stoler argues that archives are “cultural artifacts of fact production, of taxonomies in the making, and of absurd notions of what made up colonial authority. Reading along the archival grain opens up enriching readings of them as sites of contested knowledges.”
  
  The first section, "The Temptation of Empire,” shows how written records, pavilions, and audiovisual products about Equatorial Guineans during the 19th and 20th centuries served as propaganda to legitimize the imperial project after the loss of Spain's colonies of the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.
  
  Inspired by the contributions of the issue of Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies “El archivo colonial bajo el foco: representaciones audiovisuales de Guinea Ecuatorial” [The colonial archive in the spotlight: audiovisual representations of Equatorial Guinea], this part of the exhibition addresses how visual production along the 19th and 20th century not only deal with obvious propaganda messages, but also reveal contradictions and ambiguities within the colonial rule. Most of these resources are relatively still unknown within Hispanic studies and in cultural visual studies on European imperialism.
  

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