In the context of Italian colonialism, relations between the colonisers and the colonised have often been constructed and conducted through materialities (objects, things and artefacts) as means for the transmission, exchange and exercise of power. Practices of architecture, infrastructure and spoliation have then created and intensified systems of circulation connecting the metropole to the periphery. Along this axis the movement of materialities justified the colonial order within a capitalist system of production, trade, migration, communication and conquest. This dissertation interrogates the relationship between ‘materiality’ and ‘circulation’ as central categories of analysis that allow the evaluation of Italian colonialism as a historical event and the deciphering of the complexities of Italy’s post-colonial present. It offers an in-depth analysis of specific materialities that from the earlier phases of Italian colonisation in the Horn of Africa and Libya up to the post-colonial present have circulated between Italy and its colonies, tying the centre to the periphery. This thesis reveals that as a parallel to the movement of humans between the metropole and the colonies, between the Global North and the Global South, an ensemble of materialities – road infrastructure, an obelisk, anthropometric artefacts and skeletal remains - seem to be epistemologically crucial in describing power relations between the colonisers and the colonised in both the colonial and post-colonial epochs. Formerly instrumental for civilisational claims of Italian superiority in relation to native populations, since decolonisation these materialities have turned into objects of dispute, emblems of postcolonial identities and bargaining chips for posthumous justice for colonial violence and pillage. Within such a context, the discourse on memory and the elaboration of the colonial past together with the definition of new power relations and techniques of government over ‘others’ – migration policies, development and humanitarianism – constantly develop while revolving around those same materialities that, in the first place, served the purposes of the colonial mission.

This thesis describes and interprets furniture produced in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) between c. 1800 and 1900 as part of a cultural 'dialogue' of everyday objects between Europe and Asia. By synthesizing the research methods of furniture history and material culture, the present work examines Ceylonese furniture within the context of the society in which it was produced and used. For the first time, the range of furniture produced on the island during the nineteenth century is categorized and defining characteristics of such furniture are outlined. In addition, and again for the first time, consumption of furniture in Ceylon during this period is examined and the place of these artefacts within the production of Western cultural practices is explained. Specifically, this thesis also contributes to an understanding of the history of Ceylon by interpreting the acquisition and use of western-style furniture by the indigenous social elite as part of the production of anglicized life-styles on the island. The present work contributes to debates centred on colonialism and culture by historicizing and localizing the furniture of the island. Such furniture, it is argued, in addition to its use value, reproduced European refinement and civility in the domestic interiors of Ceylon; in this way furniture, despite its quotidian nature, is taken to be expressive and constitutive of the colonial relationship between the British and Ceylonese. Through analysis of archival data, examination of the furniture itself and interpretation of the communicative capacities of these artefacts, explanation of the empirical and symbolic is combined in a new understanding of a substantial, but overlooked, part of the object-world of nineteenth century Ceylon. Through the process of developing and using a new conceptual framework for the interpretation of colonial furniture produced in Asia, a contribution is made to the study of furniture history and, more specifically, items of furniture from Ceylon are interpreted as materializations of human behaviour and constitutive elements in the production of culture.

[pt] O interior à margem: o papel do gênero no processo de profissionalização do Design de Interiores analisa o processo de reformulação da Decoração, atividade originalmente doméstica, amadora e, crucialmente, feminina na nova disciplina e profissão conhecida atualmente como Design de Interiores. Este processo, ocorrido entre as útimas décadas do século XIX e as primeiras do século XX, foi resultado da incorporação de inovações técnicas e valores do Modernismo na Arquitetura e no Design. Foi também influenciado diretamente por outros aspectos da modernidade, como a distinção entre as esferas pública e privada, a urbanização acelerada, a produção em série e a revolução dos hábitos de consumo. Crucialmente, este processo foi marcado ainda por estratégias de legitimação do status profissional da atividade que tiveram como cerne a discriminação de gênero. Partindo da constatação que a maioria das publicações sobre o tema pesquisadas baseavam a História do Design de Interiores exclusivamente nos seus pontos de contato com a Arquitetura e na obra de consagrados arquitetos modernos, este trabalho busca analisar e evidenciar a contribuição determinante de mulheres à este processo. Em busca de uma abordagem feminista e feminina da História do Design de Interiores é destacada a importância da contribuição de mulheres desde lugares não profissionais de produção, assim como são apresentadas trajetórias de profissionais que obtiveram êxito na área apesar da oposição oferecida pelos estereótipos de gênero. / [en] The interior at the margin: the role of gender in the process of professionalizing Interior Design analyzes the process where Decoration, an activity originally domestic, amateur and, crucially, feminine was transformed in a new discipline and profession known today as Interior Design. This process, which occurred between the last decades of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, was a result of the incorporation of technical innovations and values of Modernism in Architecture and Design. It was also directly influenced by other aspects of modernity, such as the distinction between the public and private spheres, urbanization, mass production, and emerging consumer habits. Crucially, this process was also marked by strategies to legitimize the professional status of the activity that had gender discrimination as its core. Based on the observation that the (relatively few) existing publications on the subject based a History of Interior Design exclusively in its points of contact with Architecture and in iconic modern male architects, this research analyzes and emphasizes the contribution of women to this process. In search of a feminist and feminine approach to the History of Interior Design, the importance of the contribution of women from non-professional places of production is highlighted, as well as the trajectories of professionals who have succeeded in the area despite the opposition offered by gender stereotypes.