The Ministry of Culture identifies Iberian archeology as colonial art

EUROPA PRESS Madrid

Madrid

Updated Thursday, February 15, 2024-13:34

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The Ministry of Culture has indicated that there are

"numerous" examples of colonial material culture

in state museums, pointing among others to some pieces of Iberian archaeological remains that are preserved in the National Archaeological Museum or to

viceregal art

included in the painting collection of the Museum of America in Madrid.

This is stated in a parliamentary response to questions from popular

deputies

Pablo Hispán and Soledad Cruz-Guzmán

, who questioned the existence of colonial culture in Spain and whether there were examples of it in various Spanish museums, including the Prado Museum or the Reina Sofía. .

The response does not cite either the Prado or the Reina Sofía, while it is stated that, in relation to the

Naval Museum

, "there is no type of cataloging that coincides with colonial culture." He also explains that the RAE, after prior consultation with the Ministry of Science, does not have among its objectives "promoting colonial culture." "Notwithstanding the above, the works of the RAE, such as the

Dictionary of the Spanish Language

, the

Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Legal Spanish

and many others, incorporate, in a special way, the contributions of all the Academies of the American States," clarifies the department headed by Ernest Urtasun.

However, he does remember that "there are numerous examples of colonial culture that are preserved in the collections of Spanish state museums," noting that this category would encompass

Iberian art, viceregal painting and African works of art

.

"In Ancient Age, the artistic examples of Iberian art stand out, which had an important influence from colonizing peoples of the Western Mediterranean, until the arrival of the Roman Empire and the total imposition of its cultural forms," ​​says Cultura, which recalls how there are examples of the colonial culture in

"important Iberian archaeological remains"

that are preserved in the National Archaeological Museum (MAN). In addition, he clarifies that in this museum there is already a Department of Protohistory and Colonizations.

On the other hand, he points out that, after the conquest of America in 1492, a process of colonization began that lasted until the end of the 19th century and that gave rise to "

the imposition of European cultural forms over the artistic manifestations that they had been producing." the different communities

that populated the territories that were conquered".

Proof of this would be the

viceregal painting that is preserved in Spanish and American museums and churches

, "an outstanding example" being the painting collection of the Museum of America in Madrid.

This section also points out that, in the case of the Philippines, the Spanish presence was also very prolonged in time, between 1565 and 1898, which gave rise

to "a significant number of colonial cultural manifestations

that reached American territory through through trade routes, thus promoting the incorporation of oriental elements".

The ministry also includes among colonial culture examples of "material culture produced during the last of the colonizing processes" that took place in Africa between the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. In this sense, he explains that the

General Directorate of African Squares and Provinces

(named in this way in 1956 after the declaration of independence of Morocco) was the promoter of the creation of the Museum of Africa.

"(This museum) began to gather a collection of archaeological and ethnographic objects, at the same time that it held a painting contest on African themes.

It remained open between 1961 and 1973

; after its closure, just over 1,000 pieces became part of the collections of the current National Museum of Anthropology and the National Archaeological Museum," he noted.

On the other hand, Culture highlights that there is currently an international debate about the pieces and works of art from the colonial period that are found outside their countries of origin and that it

will follow this matter "very closely and in accordance with international commitments." assumed by Spain".

Finally, Culture defines what is understood as colonial culture, as "a

set of cultural manifestations that occur in a community under the presence of another foreign human group

that exercises a dominant position."

"In the successive colonizations that have occurred since ancient times, colonial culture develops after the introduction of the cultural forms of the colonizer, which modify the manifestations that until that moment were characteristic of the original communities. This phenomenon affects, substantially, to economic, social and cultural processes, beyond the term that each colonial State uses when naming the administrative structure of the colonized territories," he concluded.