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Tag / colonialism

The Art of Power Clashing

“Power clashing” is an art not easily learned, but Alexander Gorlizki lives, breathes, and paints it in his art. The intricate, bright prints and designs look like they’ve been sourced from an ancient Islamic library and combined with vintage Bollywood pop culture. We see both Eastern and Western influencers – dare we say there might…
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A 1920s Brochure to Colonial East Africa

You could have told me this photograph was snapped in Los Angeles or San Francisco in the twenties and I wouldn’t have said otherwise if it wasn’t for the little barefooted boy in the right hand corner of the shot, looking strangely out of place, if not lost. Of course, the only strange thing about…

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Greetings from the Colonies: Postcards of a Shameful Past

Of course we’re all familiar with the postcard as a small souvenir we send to friends and family from faraway vacations, or as something we buy to decorate our walls. But are you familiar with the postcard as a form of European colonial propaganda? Postcards were invented around 1860 (at a time when European countries were…

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Hidden beneath the surface layers of the internet, there’s a place where we keep our most secret addresses, untapped archives, creator’s inspiration,  collector’s guides, explorer’s manuals, obscure research and much more… And it’s made for our keyholders only!

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The Problem with America’s Only Royal Palace

At a glance, it could be a corner at Buckingham Palace, but what you’re looking at is the gilded throne room of America’s only royal residency on U.S. soil. This is the Iolani Palace in Honolulu, Hawaii, built in 1879 for the last sovereign monarchs of Hawaii. Not many people know there’s an American princess in waiting,…

Ghosts of Nigeria: A Colonialist’s Photo Album

I had a good dig through the British National Archives this morning and began fixating on the “Nigeria” album, containing over 900 photographs from the Colonial Office photographic collection. It’s an exhaustive album of portraits and documentation of the photographer’s tour through what was then Colonial Nigeria in the late 19th century. The photographs capture so…

Drinking Away the Last Hours of Shanghai

Deep in the LIFE archives, I found myself fascinated by a glimpse into mid 20th century China during a period chronicled as “the last days of Shanghai”. It’s a portrait of a city full of Western influence; American neon-lit dive bars on every corner, shops and businesses advertised in English and western ex-pat communities going about their daily lives…
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