Zoos humanos, ethnic freaks y exhibiciones etnológicas

This conference will address some of the issues that Spanish philosopher Hasan G. López Sanz has been investigating, such as the complex relationships between exoticism and education, anthropology and colonial memory, restitution and reparation. The presentation will also consider how contemporary art has materialised these ideas, particularly through the work of artists who have deconstructed the colonial thinking that often persists in some of the human sciences and academia.

“Zoos humanos, ethnic freaks y exhibiciones etnológicas. Una aproximación desde la antropología, la estética y la creación artística contemporánea”, published by Hasan Lópes in 2017, was also one of the many references for building the core knowledge of the “Memória de Elefante” axis of Ping! The book, published by the Concreta publishing house, deals with important topics for reflection and debate on these matters, such as the Estado Novo’s decision to organise the “First Portuguese Colonial Exhibition” in Porto’s Palácio de Cristal Gardens in 1934.

Hasan G. López Sanz has a PhD in Philosophy. He is a lecturer in Aesthetics and Art Theory at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Valencia, an associate researcher at CRAL (Centre de Recherches sur les Arts et le Langage) in Paris, and a member and director of the research group “Grupo de estudios visuales sobre memoria de la esclavitud, el colonialismo y sus legados”, among other projects. His research centres on the image, its practices and public uses, especially in relation to anthropology, aesthetics and contemporary art. Her publications include books such as “Zoos humanos, ethnic freaks y exhibiciones etnológicas. Una aproximación desde la antropología, la estética y la creación artística contemporánea” (Concreta, 2017), “Let’s bring blacks home! Colonial imagination and ways of graphically approaching black people in Africa” (1880-1968) (PUV, 2020).