Etnoæstetik (Ethno-Aesthetics) (ARK issue no. 17)
Pia Arke’s essay Etnoæstetik. Originally published by ARK in 1995, the book is an important and in a Nordic context very early attempt at a postcolonial art theory and representational critique. In the essay, Arke (1958–2007) engages the special conditions that so-called ethnic artists work under and delivers a devastating critique of the West’s romanticization and stereotyping of ‘authentic,’ ‘Eskimoic,’ ‘primitive’ art – and of the resultant counter-image of the West, and only the West, as ‘civilized,’ ‘modern,’ and ‘complex.’ In a broader perspective, the essay is about art in general – about the preconditions for understanding and interpreting art, and about the benefits to be gained from regarding art as something that comes into being in the space between cultures.
A photograph of Pia Arke’s mother, Birgitte Justine Piparajik Arqe, appropriated from Danish telegraphist Sven Lund Jensen’s photo album with b/ w photographs taken during his 1946-47 travel to and stay in Scoresbysund/Ittoqqortoormiit is used as an opening illustration before the title page of the book. Although according to Svend Lund Jensen’s own annotation the image dates to 1947, the caption in ARK reads “Scoresbysund 1948”. Pia chose in this instance to mirror the image.
1995
Original copyright of the essay belongs to the Pia Arke Estate
Pia Arke’s essay Etnoæstetik. Originally published by ARK in 1995, the book is an important and in a Nordic context very early attempt at a postcolonial art theory and representational critique. In the essay, Arke (1958–2007) engages the special conditions that so-called ethnic artists work under and delivers a devastating critique of the West’s romanticization and stereotyping of ‘authentic,’ ‘Eskimoic,’ ‘primitive’ art – and of the resultant counter-image of the West, and only the West, as ‘civilized,’ ‘modern,’ and ‘complex.’ In a broader perspective, the essay is about art in general – about the preconditions for understanding and interpreting art, and about the benefits to be gained from regarding art as something that comes into being in the space between cultures.
A photograph of Pia Arke’s mother, Birgitte Justine Piparajik Arqe, appropriated from Danish telegraphist Sven Lund Jensen’s photo album with b/ w photographs taken during his 1946-47 travel to and stay in Scoresbysund/Ittoqqortoormiit is used as an opening illustration before the title page of the book. Although according to Svend Lund Jensen’s own annotation the image dates to 1947, the caption in ARK reads “Scoresbysund 1948”. Pia chose in this instance to mirror the image.
1995
Original copyright of the essay belongs to the Pia Arke Estate
Pia Arke’s essay Etnoæstetik. Originally published by ARK in 1995, the book is an important and in a Nordic context very early attempt at a postcolonial art theory and representational critique. In the essay, Arke (1958–2007) engages the special conditions that so-called ethnic artists work under and delivers a devastating critique of the West’s romanticization and stereotyping of ‘authentic,’ ‘Eskimoic,’ ‘primitive’ art – and of the resultant counter-image of the West, and only the West, as ‘civilized,’ ‘modern,’ and ‘complex.’ In a broader perspective, the essay is about art in general – about the preconditions for understanding and interpreting art, and about the benefits to be gained from regarding art as something that comes into being in the space between cultures.
A photograph of Pia Arke’s mother, Birgitte Justine Piparajik Arqe, appropriated from Danish telegraphist Sven Lund Jensen’s photo album with b/ w photographs taken during his 1946-47 travel to and stay in Scoresbysund/Ittoqqortoormiit is used as an opening illustration before the title page of the book. Although according to Svend Lund Jensen’s own annotation the image dates to 1947, the caption in ARK reads “Scoresbysund 1948”. Pia chose in this instance to mirror the image.
1995
Original copyright of the essay belongs to the Pia Arke Estate