Gloria Oyarzabal – Usus, fructus, abusus

Usus, fructus, abusus is the latest project by a Spanish photographer who has dedicated years of her work to the issues of colonisation, decolonisation, but also to feminism in Africa.

Gloria Oyarzabal (Grand Prix Fotofestiwal 2020 laureate) continues to focus on the cultural responsibility of the West. This time, she zooms on art exhibition institutions and the pillaging of African intellectual and artistic property.

The question of how to safeguard and exhibit works of art, artefacts and even humans remains that were acquired (or, more often, looted) by Europeans, mainly during the heyday of imperialism between the 18th and mid-20th centuries, is an extremely thorny ethical issue. Major institutions in France, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Holland, Spain and England have, for the most part, a sordid history of dealing with these issues and, unfortunately, not always with the intention of reviewing and rectifying them in the face of an urgency to “decolonize” museums.

Who is entitled to using or profiting from or determining the purpose of using a given object? Is returning what has been plundered (and what is meant here are both items and identity) an urgent, universal and doable task for everyone? These issues have become complicated as the western museum system developed, and museums have turned into a bone of contention in the decolonisation war, much to the chagrin of museum directors all over the globe.

Oyarzabal has been investigating this difficult subject since 2019. In her artistic work, she contributes to the struggle for decolonisation and dominating narrative of the West.

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Art_Inkubator, Tymienieckiego 3

DID YOU KNOW THAT Art_Inkubator is located in the former factory of Karol Scheibler II, son of the greatest factory owner in Łódź? 

Every firstborn son in the Scheibler family was named Karol. The factory is a part of Księży Młyn, also called a “town in town” or “Polish Manchester”. Scheibler Senior built the largest textile factory in this part of Europe, as well as an estate of workers’ houses, many palaces, hospitals, schools, and parks. Karol Scheibler’s legacy was later developed by Karol Scheibler II, who erected factories at Tymienieckiego and Milionowa Streets. The factory still has the original Russian gauge railway tracks! You will find them near the passage to the new “Fuzja” estate.

Partner: Cervantes Institute