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Hybridity in Colonial Art: African Nations or Former European Colonies
Former colonies of different nations, especially those where the colonizing country never established a strong presence of its natives, tend to demonstrate a blending of cultures. Their original residents retain their art and traditions, though they may decline with time, and the colonizers bring their practices with them. By the time they depart, their culture has been sufficiently strongly ingrained in the natives that they retain at least some aspect of it, especially if the separation is peaceful. Such is the case for a number of African nations that used to be European colonies, for example. Artists in these nations tend to create art that hybridizes their pre-colonization traditions and more modern tendencies learned in the time since.
The art that the colonized culture created originally tends to stagnate once the colonization happens, whether due to concerted efforts by the new government to suppress it or through continued exposure to the foreign culture in most spheres of life. As a result, post-liberation artists tend to find it challenging to authentically continue the traditions, especially given the likely dramatic change in cultural contexts since. However, they can reflect their experiences by hybridizing their art, blending the cultural crafts with more modernized art from their other environment to illustrate their history similarly to how Drake uses his distinct identities. They acknowledge both the past and the present, constructing elaborate and unique artwork in the process.
With that said, art that discusses colonization does not necessarily have to do so from a negative context. This consideration applies particularly strongly to nations that have maintained friendly relationships since their separation, with the colonizers improving infrastructure and overall leaving the nation better off than when they entered. Aarts provides the example of Yonka Shonibare, a British-born Nigerian artist whose work both celebrates and critiques the British Empires colonial history. As someone who feels at home in both nations, he can authentically incorporate the art of both. Similarly, Drake can embrace a multitude of identities due to his complex heritage, though none of these identities can necessarily lay a claim to him, leaving him marginalized.
With that said, the advantages conferred by hybridity are also accompanied by potential problems. For Drake, it is that his identification with different groups means he relies heavily on stereotypes, effectively perpetuating them (Pope 10). With hybrid artists, instead of stereotypes, they may prolong cultural stagnation. Ultimately, colonial hybrid art is oriented backward almost by definition, looking at the colonial past rather than the independent future. As such, if a large proportion of artists in a nation embrace hybridity, the overall culture may not be able to move forward. Ultimately, it should be a phase that takes place until the nations creators are able to find their new path and follow it.
Ultimately, hybridity is the natural result of the forced blending of cultures that happens during colonization efforts. It can lead to the creation of unique art that critically evaluates the colonial history of both the conquering nation and the one being taken over. Moreover, it can be used both to criticize the colonizer and to acknowledge their positive impacts on the nation, providing an overall critical perspective and helping illustrate the history of the two entities. However, when doing so, it is best to be mindful and not rely excessively on the paradigm, aiming to create unique art without it becoming stale.
Works Cited
Aarts, Fleur. Yinka Shonibares Art as an Expression of Hybrid Identity. Diggit Magazine, 2019, Web.
Pope, Amara. Musical Artists Capitalizing on Hybrid Identities. Stream: Interdisciplinary Journal of Communication, vol. 8, no. 2, 2016, pp. 3-22.
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