Disrupting the Colonial Globe and Engaging in Border Thinking: An Art Educator’s Critical Analysis and Reflection on (de)Colonial Discourses in Global Art Narratives

Abstract

This essay attempts to problematize the fixed and bounded notion of culture in global narratives and deconstruct the practices of knowing the Other through the lens of border thinking. In order to challenge the colonial apparatus of classification, I first demystify the static notion of national identity through an example of the ideological formation of Koreanness in Dansaekhwa, the monochrome painting in Korea, in the context of global art. The first section includes my reflective narrative in light of the discussions of representation, Othering, and positionality. This section also addresses the issue of speaking about and for the Other, and how it contributes to the colonial discourse through the network of representation and interpretation. The second section addresses decolonial aspects of Lee Bul’s works and their connection to decolonial aestheSis. In the last section, I make a few suggestions regarding what art educators might consider in order to move beyond the colonial discourse in global narratives. The suggestions include critical reflexivity in the works of representation and the importance of border thinking to imagine decoloniality and to claim for subaltern perspectives.

The Potential of Visual Arts Education: Strengthening Pre‐Service Primary Teachers’ Cultural Identity

“…Intercultural theories could provide a lens to address this issue through decolonisation. In visual arts education, this could mean problematising mainstream notions of beauty (Yoon 2018), or categorisations, such as the idea of fine arts and crafts (Akuno et al . 2014).…”