Libro de Oro Ibero Americano. Catálogo oficial y monumental de la exposición de Sevilla

Introductory Remarks

The digital exhibit "Reframing the Colonial Library: Equatorial Guinea Archives in the Museum" engages with the country's colonial library. Following the approach of Benita Sampedro Vizcaya, the re-evaluation of the colonial library demands “dislocating the traditionally central and privileged role of metropolitan texts and neo-colonial discourses in order to engage, instead, with the cultural and intellectual production of Guinean intellectuals themselves (341).” The project embraces her emphasis on re-locating canonical texts and privileged categories of analysis such as race, capitalism, empire, or nation. This way, the exhibit attempts to reconfigure, appropriate, transform, and transgress the colonial, historical, and linguistic inheritance of which 'the local' is also a conduit, as explained by Sampedro Vizcaya. The revision of the colonial library requires “awareness of the power of those sites, not only in terms of the day-to-day functioning of the empire-colony relationship but also in regard to the epistemic and representational weight they carry in broader cultural and political practices and projects, both colonial and neocolonial (343).” This way, the exhibit turns “to the potential of the archive and the colonial library as sites from which the seemingly irreversible power of colonialism can simultaneously be enacted and contested (343).”

This exhibit is divided into three parts, chronologically interconnected, that cover Equatorial Guinean colonial and neocolonial history. The sections are: "The Temptation of Empire", “Neocolonial Politics in the Museum and Conflicting Identities in Eguatorial Guinea" and “Alternative Conservation and Heritage Practices in Equatorial Guinea. The Case of the Museum Felipe Osá Angüé." This organization aims to deconstruct visitors' perception of the colonial archive and its uses from a transhistorical and global angle. Each section addresses the ideological uses of the archive both in the metropolis and the former colony, questioning the Spanish civilizational mission that still persists beneath the language of institutional collaboration and modernization in cultural spaces.

The completion of this digital project has been made possible through the 2024 Mellon Doctoral Summer Fellowship awarded by the Price Lab for the Digital Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania. The exhibition portal will be available indefinitely thanks to the support of Van Pelt Libraries.

Bibliography:

Sampedro-Vizcaya, Benita. "Rethinking the Archive and the Colonial Library: Equatorial Guinea." Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies, vol. 9, no. 3, 2008, pp. 341-363.

Title: Libro de Oro Ibero Americano. Catálogo oficial y monumental de la exposición de Sevilla
Subject: Exposición Iberoamericana
Description: The Libro de Oro Ibero-Americano is an official and monumental catalog of the Ibero-American Exhibition held in Seville in 1929. Edited by the Unión Iberoamericana, the catalog features contributions from notable figures such as Víctor Espinós, Enrique Díez-Canedo, and Jacinto Benavente. Published by Aldus in Santander, it comprises extensive pages with illustrations, providing a comprehensive overview of the exhibition.

This catalog documented the exposition extensively, detailing the exhibits, pavilions, and participants, with a focus on cultural, economic, and technological achievements. It highlighted the shared heritage between Spain and Latin America, emphasizing unity and collaboration.

Richly illustrated with photographs and maps, the catalog provided a vivid representation of the event's grandeur and diversity. It also covered the economic and trade aspects, promoting investment and commercial partnerships between Spain and Latin American countries. Serving as an official and monumental record, the catalog underscored the significance of the exposition in fostering cultural and economic ties, while reinforcing Spain's aspirations to reassert its influence and prestige globally.
Creator: Unión Iberoamericana
Source: Carlos, Abelardo de. Libro De Oro Ibero Americano: Catálogo Oficial Y Monumental De La Exposición De Sevilla. [Santander]: [Aldus, s. a., de artes gráficas], 1929.
Publisher: Unión Iberoamericana
Date: 1929
Rights: Unión Iberoamericana
Format: Book, 800 pp. 38x30.
Language: Spanish
Coverage: Spain

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1. The Temptation of Empire

Citation

Unión Iberoamericana, “Libro de Oro Ibero Americano. Catálogo oficial y monumental de la exposición de Sevilla,” Reframing Archives: Equatorial Guinea's Colonial Library, accessed November 3, 2026, https://hernando.upenn.domains/items/show/6.

Introductory Remarks

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