Tribal Art in the Home
I must confess. This is an interior look I really like. A hint that the owner has travelled far and wide. Tasted a bit of the exotic. Explored. Ventured into the unknown. And nothing says it quite as loudly or as eloquently as an over-sized black and white portrait. Sometimes that is all it takes to turn a so-so room into one that speaks volumes. They can look stunning in a minimalist room and really give it a focal point. Or they can look atmospheric and mysterious in a room that is full of travel souvenirs, artifacts and collections.
The choice is yours.
Above image courtesy of Home by Tribal
I totally agree with you ‘dear designer’. I am an African based in UK very proud of my roots and actually sell Tribal pieces of art from different parts of the world including Africa. The artisans create these pieces of art and are proud to sell them to anyone and are actually very happy when their items appeal to people from other parts of the world. You will find that only a few local people buy these pieces of art and its usually people from other parts of the world who do so. Some of these people only have this as their only means of income and sale of these items actually benefits communities supporting them to feed and educate their families.
Glad you agree Sandra. You didn’t leave a link but I’d love to see some of the things you sell if you’d like to get in touch. ?
As a person of colour what I find offensive is that most likely these would be in the home of someone who knew very few or no people of colour …
I really like your blog normally, but this post made me profoundly uncomfortable. Those images are exoticising, orientalist and, well, racist. White Westerners like us continue to profit from the colonialism which destroyed indigenous peoples’ communities, stole their land, and murdered, enslaved and abused them. Many of those communities are still struggling for liberation today and still suffering the consequences. When we top that off by using their images as decoration for our homes, with no regard for the meaning or significance that their clothes and jewellery have, and especially when we describe them using the language of colonialism – “exotic”, “explored”, “the unknown”, we add insult to injury.
I’m sorry you found the post uncomfortable Marika.
I’ve travelled to a lot of ‘exotic’ locations and visited many tribes in their own homes. Responsible tourism benefits a lot of communities and I do like to display some of the souvenirs (including photographs) I collect in my own home.
I personally don’t think this is exploitative and certainly not racist.