Cargo of Questions: Information Wrap

AMERICA

A Cargo of Questions 1992

Colombia

SANTA FE DE ANTIOQUIA

Founded in 1541 by Jorge Robledo it was an important and prosperous centre during the colonial period as well as the capital of Antioquia until 1826. Antioquia is one of those Colombian regions where the population is largely made up of people with a white European heritage.

Colombia is a nation of many and mixed peoples. About half the population are mestizos (a person of European and Amerindian descent), about a fifth mulattos (a person of mixed white and black ancestry) and another fifth white, mostly descendants of the Spaniards. The remaining indigenous peoples (called Amer-Indians?) consist of over 50 different tribal societies scattered in small enclaves in almost all regions of the country. They represent between 1% and 1.5% of the population. Very recently, half a millenium later, the new Constitution of Colombia recognises the rights and independent existence of the indigenous peoples of this land. Accomanying this recognition, various economic priorities have been instituted by the Colombian state to promote and preserve the culture and traditions of these peoples. For those people, imported into the continent as cargoes of slaves and left to inhabit the poorest regions of the country, there have been no equivalent provisions in the Constitution. They are not descended from European or indigenous people, and they are forgotten.

April 24, 1992 was 'Secretaries Day' in Colombia. A full page colour advertisement for Superley uses 64 images of women. Whether they are models, or secretaries, only one has dark skin, only six faces suggest a woman over 30 years old, the rest conform to a North American stereotype of beauty and "glamour".

The "Americanization of the World", European Exceptionalism and Eurocentrism

To what image do you aspire?

How can you see yourself through the image of another culture?

What is the purpose in a society where the majority are poor of constantly showing images of glamour, wealth and white middle-class power?

Information Wrap

Después de años de planification, la Exposición Universal de Sevilla fue inaugurada ayer por el rey Juan Carlos de España en medio de repique de campanas, al estruendo de fuegos artificiales y lanzamiento de globos. El rey Juan Carlos, que guió al Estado español durante el difícil periodo posterior a la muerte dictator Francisco Franco en 1975, dio la orden para que fuera puesto en marcha el festival, que según los organizadores, denostar al mundo que España esta lista para enfrentar los desafíos del proximo siglo. "La Exposición Universal tiene por fin transmitir a sus visitantes la riqueza y variedad de las culturas que el hombre ha creado, asi como su capacidad de innovación y las ideas de tolerancia, respeto por el pluralismo y solidaridad internacional", dijo el monarca al inaugurar la mayor Exposición Universal. Decenas de militantes representantes de indigenas americanos afirmaron que tenia la intención de entregar una carta al monarca pero que no lograron hacerlo. En esa carta denunciaban la masacre de 50 millones de aborigines de America, se pronunciaban contra las ceremonias del Quinto Centenario la organización de un "espectáculo celebrando un genocidio" y los gastos de millones de dólares mientras millones de seres humanos mueren en la miseria.

After years of planning, the Universal Exposition of Seville was inaugurated yesterday by the king Juan Carlos of Spain in the middle of the ringing of bells, explosions of fireworks and a launch of balloons. King Juan Carlos, who led the Spanish state during the difficult period following the death of the dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, gave the order to start the festival, which according to organisers, announces to the world that Spain is ready to face the challenges of the next century. "The Universal Exhibition aims to convey to its visitors the richness and variety of the cultures that man has created, as well as their capacity for innovation and ideas of tolerance, respect for pluralism and international solidarity," said the monarch at the inauguration of the largest ever Universal Exhibition. Dozens of militants representing Native Americans claimed that they intended to deliver a letter to the monarch but were unable to do so. In that letter they denounced the massacre of 50 million Aborigines of America, and they denounced the ceremonies of the fifth centenary (of the discovery of the new world) and the organisation of a "spectacle celebrating a genocide" costing millions of dollars while millions of human beings die in misery.

EL TIEMPO, 21 April, 1992.