on earth, rematriation

July 10, 2024 6:36 AM

Artists across several national pavilions are exploring notions of contested land, land restitution, and rematriation — the latter of which signifies the return of objects to their original cultural contexts, avoiding the patriarchal and colonial overtones of “repatriation.” Several have also brought soil itself into the gallery space, emphasizing an engagement with land as a living entity that supports broader ecological and cultural systems [hyperallergic]
posted by HearHere (3 comments total)

Not wanting to be a thread-shitter, I waited a day to see if anybody had anything else to say about this.

> avoiding the patriarchal and colonial overtones of “repatriation.”

Sometimes the right thing to do is not the opposite of the historical wrong thing. If you don't like "repatriation" I suggest that "rematriation" is not really any better. If you want a neutral term you need to look to domicilium for the root. "Redomicile" would be my pick.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 8:47 AM on July 11

I honestly thought that sentence read as similar to saying that the word "hyperbolic" has overtones of ballistic missiles, and then suggested replacing it with something else very similar. (TBH, "redomicile" seems a little confusing to me, like we're talking about houses and not countries or lands.)
posted by dsword at 3:26 PM on July 11

I loved this and look forward to digging in more. Thanks for posting it.
posted by travertina at 7:52 AM on July 12 [1 favorite]