<p>The abscence of the brazilian artist Tarsila do Amaral (1886–1973) in the general art history is investigated, using the colonial structure as a starting point. In South America she is regarded as one of the greatest artists in modern time, in the rest of the world she is more or less unknown. The conclusion is that the colonial mechanisms are still in progress in our assumed postcolonial world, and has excluded Tarsila do Amaral, and the anthropophagic movement she was a part of, from the art history. The study points out the importance of looking into this neglected artist and the historic event. Not only to add it to the history of art, but also to show how anthropophagy as an artistic strategy created in the 1920’s Brazil is as relevant today as it was then. Three oil paintings of Tarsila do Amaral is used to describe the artistic strategy that solved the problem of beeing shaped as a mirror image to the western world. The paintings A Negra, Abaporu and Antropofagia tells us the story of how the Brazilian people started to see themselves as culturaly independent from Europe. Neither as something opposite nor similiar, but as something between. Anthropophagy is challenging our notion of ”us” and ”them” as well as centre and periphery – and is therefor useful in the writing of art history. Its not only important to make room for Tarsila do Amaral in the history of art – its also urgent to let her contribution be a part of the present art world.</p>

The abscence of the brazilian artist Tarsila do Amaral (1886–1973) in the general art history is investigated, using the colonial structure as a starting point. In South America she is regarded as one of the greatest artists in modern time, in the rest of the world she is more or less unknown. The conclusion is that the colonial mechanisms are still in progress in our assumed postcolonial world, and has excluded Tarsila do Amaral, and the anthropophagic movement she was a part of, from the art history. The study points out the importance of looking into this neglected artist and the historic event. Not only to add it to the history of art, but also to show how anthropophagy as an artistic strategy created in the 1920’s Brazil is as relevant today as it was then. Three oil paintings of Tarsila do Amaral is used to describe the artistic strategy that solved the problem of beeing shaped as a mirror image to the western world. The paintings A Negra, Abaporu and Antropofagia tells us the story of how the Brazilian people started to see themselves as culturaly independent from Europe. Neither as something opposite nor similiar, but as something between. Anthropophagy is challenging our notion of ”us” and ”them” as well as centre and periphery – and is therefor useful in the writing of art history. Its not only important to make room for Tarsila do Amaral in the history of art – its also urgent to let her contribution be a part of the present art world.

This research seeks to evaluate European engagement with Africa looking at the problems, pontentials and way forward. The continent’s treasure chest of varied natural resource endowments, have made it the source of historic, economic and political competition from especially western interests, a trend that has combined dangerously with the region’s poor leadership and democratic profile in impoverishing its masses, escalating lethal conflicts, while upsetting hard earned developments gains, that have been made. About 50 years since the sun of colonial hegemonies set in Africa, the continent’s development prospects continue to stagnate. Even the World Bank moved to describing Africa’s poor as the poorest of the poor in its 2001 development report. One question that continues to beg for answers is why a region so richly endowed with natural and human resources continues to bear the brunt of misery in such dispiriting fashion? The research is built on an exploration of the backward and forward historical continuums of patronizations that have stifled the continent (backward: counting the true cost of the legacies of slavery and colonial exploitation, forward: measuring the real cost of the iniquitous integration of Africa within the global economy and the continent’s role as bread basket for the rest of the world). The research explores the economic rationale for Europe’s engagement with the continent in the political, economic and cultural spheres, casting from a plethora of academic sources drawn from both leftist and right wing publications on the question of European engagement with Africa. In the end, the research has dwelled on some possible policy recommendations which could help this relationship. These recommendations  includes the African debt cancellation, using the Chinese Cushion Effectively for Africa’s development and the last but not the least, the reconstitution of African poltical and economic power which if considered, could precipitate a reversal in the trend of most African countries.

Hawai'i was once an independent Indigenous sovereign island nation with a distinctive culture, history, and legislative past. The laws of the modern state of Hawai'i reflect that history as Indigenous heritage has been integrated into state law. However, during the last forty years the laws protecting Native Hawaiian rights have been challenged in Hawai'i through a series of significant land claim lawsuits. Native Hawaiian struggles for sovereignty are based on the assertion of their heritage rights in lawsuits. This dissertation explores the use of heritage in land claim lawsuits and the role it plays in the construction of a modern Indigenous identity. It uses Native Hawaiian efforts for land control in Hawai'i as a case study to explore how involvement in the legal process has impacted both Indigenous identity and heritage. In this dissertation I examine three major lawsuits following one line of legal precedent: traditional and customary access rights. The investigation answers the questions of how legal narrative construction using heritage impacts Indigenous identity; how heritage values are substantiated; what the role is of experts in formulating cases; if there is a measurable change over time in the way that cultural claims are structured; and what the impact is of increased Indigenous political leadership and land control on Native Hawaiian identity and heritage. To complete this research, I applied a mixed qualitative method approach of ethno-historical, socio-legal, and legal narrative analyses with content analysis to examine Indigenous textural production and court performance as forms of social practice. I supported my research with ethnographic semi-structured interviews and participant observation in recognition of Indigenous protocol. The results indicate that Native Hawaiian use of heritage in courtrooms has contributed to Indigenous identity construction by enhancing collective memory, increasing land control, and protecting group rights. The results also provide insight into how such actions by Indigenous peoples can advance upward social mobility, encourage collective identification and civic involvement, regenerate cultural practices, and strengthen group identity. This research provides new insights into how Indigenous heritage can be used as a means of Indigenous empowerment and develops a greater and more complex understanding of the uses of heritage for land control and sovereignty. These findings may be used by other special interest groups using heritage to achieve common goals.