
IOAN PUPILA

Africa`s tribal artifacts displaced by colonial Europe teach us lessons about unrooted belief systems, landscapes, and ultimately, immigration seen through the lens of today`s reverse colonialism. In times of transformation and collapse of the old post-capitalist systems, they remind us how individuals and societies languish, replacing spirituality and the need of belonging to our tribal past with commodification.
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What is the connection between the wooden carved statues glued to a speaker in Northern Europe and the object of (ritualic) power that it used to represent in central Africa during wedding and hunting ceremonies?
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I followed the tracks of some of these objects from warmer climates to cold Scandinavia and tried to observe their transformational journey in search for possible answers to “our” Western society identity crises. It feels similar to a reversed initiation journey that, despite its dark exploiting history, seemed necessary in order to acknowledge the teachings of, perhaps, a different state of being that — beyond past nostalgia, glorification or speculation — humans were once deeply connected to.
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From Reverse Colonial Search - Sauna Kirkko, Savitaipale , Finland 14.09.25