Colonialism

 One theme interesting to me has been colonialism. I see Indiana as the product and victim of colonialism.

Reading Gauguin’s ‘child-wife’: in search of the muse that inspired a masterpiece in The Guardian, I prepared for a stern commentary on the evils of colonialism. Instead, I got a reminder of the ambiguities of this world:

In Gauguin’s Tahitian journal, Noa Noa, he tells the reader how he met “Tehura”, whom he describes as wise beyond her years, and how she taught him about the stars and the myths and legends of her people. He saw all of her race reflected in the depths of her eyes. She was unspoilt by progress and his first perfect muse. The artist’s paintings are difficult for people to accept today because we recognise the exploitative nature of his gaze: the colonist’s eye. But that painting opened a doorway for me into Teha’amana’s world. Without it, the power that it exudes, I would never have embarked on a journey to discover her truth and her voice.

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