In this talk we take a whistlestop tour of depictions of non-white peoples over the last 500 years and the reoccurring themes within them, including racial pseudoscience and such dichotomies as savage/civilised and irrational/enlightened. From Renaissance engravings of the New World to Victorian paintings of the Middle East, we step into the fields of empire, science, art, gender, and politics. Scrutinising sources as varied as satire, newspapers, fine art, and modern pop culture – including Steven Spielberg’s iconic Indiana Jones – by the end of this talk, you’ll be looking at the media you consume with a critical eye, noticing how imperial legacies continue to shape representations of race today.
Ruka is currently reading history at Oxford University and recently participated in an Oxford University internship with Museums and Galleries Edinburgh where she looked into legacies of Slavery and Colonialism in our collection.
Museums and Galleries Edinburgh work annually with CRER (The Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights) to host and deliver lectures for Black History Month. The Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights works to eliminate racial discrimination and harassment and to promote racial justice across Scotland.
Image Credit: Sir William Allan, The Slave Market, Constantinople, 1838. Collection: National Galleries of Scotland, purchased 1980
The Face Of A Thousand Faces: Representations of Non-Whites in Western Culture