Rasheed Araeen: New Internationalism

The questionable influence and dominance of western culture is at the forefront of a new form of seemingly ephemeral diplomatic history that is termed ‘new internationalism’. Internationalism itself is not really a new concept, and is basically a system based on equality for all people and cultures on a global scale. In the global art world ‘new internationalism’ is an active topic and was the focus of a 1994 INIVA Symposium entitled, A New International Symposium. The topics discussed included: Recording the International; Art, History and the Modern Museum; Beyond Diversity and Difference; Curatorship and International Exhibitions.1 During his lecture at the symposium, sculptor, essayist and poet Jimmie Durham puts forth the idea that, “…Europeans seem to think that, as art is their invention, effective art is within a developed vocabulary and accent…”2 This kind of statement emphasizes the enormous task of disuniting ‘actual’ art history from that recorded under the influence of western culture, and it demonstrates the long-standing influence of imperial thinking.

In the article New Internationalism, Rasheed Araeen talks about how the West, after its separation from colonialism, continued its “hegemonic position” and global control (Araeen 3). Araeen’s main argument is that if we (all global nations) aren’t willing to acknowledge an obvious historical timeline that has been based on Eurocentricity (a focus on European history and culture), then the concept of ‘new internationalism’ will never be visualized. In other words, there must be a willingness on the part of nation states to fill in the omissions of history, especially in regard to art and culture (6). The INIVA Symposium is possibly one slice of evidence that seems t...

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...control. I believe there are really two distinct issues that have to be considered, one is that of a Eurocentric evaluation of fine art that is still widely present in major museums. The second is that the only way to overcome this stigma is through an honest recognition of the historical falsehoods created by the functions of colonization. Only through the resolution of both of these issues, in a post-colonial framework, will a true multicultural platform emerge.

Works Cited

1) "A New Internationalism Symposium." INIVA. Tate Museum, London. 1994. Symposium.

2) Durham, Jimmie. "A New Internationalism Symposium." INIVA. Tate Museum, London. 25 Apr. 1994. Lecture.

3) Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnocentric

4) Bennett, Gordon. "The Non-Sovereign Self (Diaspora Identities)." Global Visions; Towards a

New Internationalism in the Visual Arts (1994): 120-30. Web.