Re-examining the art of the British Empire: Visual culture and cultural (ex)change in the long nineteenth century

Jos Hackforth-Jones and Romita Ray

‘The Village Gossips’ from Mrs. S. C. Belnos, Twenty-Four Plates Illustrative of Hindoo and European Manners in Bengal (London, 1832)

Our paper will provide an overview prior to focussing on key themes, findings and case studies: This project comprises four edited books of sources and a digital presence, which document the British empire, visual culture and cultural exchange and changes in the long 19^th C.  We also consider the work of contemporary artists as a lens for speaking back to imperial discourse.

The material is organised thematically and in relation to the geographic scope of the project: India, North America/Canada, The South Pacific and Africa:

I. Travel and Geographies; II. The Imperial Body; III. Material Culture and  IV.The Public Sphere (architecture, printmaking, photography, and the rise of the cinema). The value of the project lies in the conjunction of primary and secondary source material from a range of colonial and imperial contexts, in the opportunity for cultural comparisons across a range of places/geographies and in exploring the interconnectedness of Empire.

Jos Hackforth-Jones is an Honorary Associate at the University of Sydney.  She works on cultural exchanges and the visual culture of the British Empire in the long nineteenth century.

Romita Ray is Associate Professor of Art History at Syracuse University. She works on the art and architecture of the British empire in India. Ray is currently working on a book about the art and science of tea in colonial India; and together with Professor Jos Hackforth-Jones, is editing a multi-volume project for Routledge on art, architecture, material culture, and early cinema in the British empire.