Clark's Chart
(Click image for a larger view)- Description
This brightly coloured map highlights the regions of the world according to their form of government, prevailing religion and ‘degree of civilization’. Populations are colour coded from ‘savage’ through to ‘enlightened’.
Credit: The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, (E) B1 (151)
The Colonial Urge
Grace (SOME.GAL)
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Who defines the savage but has permission to act savagely? In this map colonisation starts in the imaginings of its creators and builds upon the mythology of ‘whiteness’ as a symbol of civilisation and superiority. This mythology, with its refashioned associations with Christianity, has created and legitimised unequal power relationships which are made to appear natural, within the history of colonialism and the Commonwealth. Grace’s work delves into the theoretical demarcation of land and the construction of identities. The likeness of Christopher Columbus was used as her visual reference for examining what the colonial urge looks like.