From Samoa with Love

On view until October 5 at Munich's Museum für Völkerkunde is From Samoa with Love, an exhibition examining the origins and content of colonial-era imagery of Samoa in a way that has never been produced before, shedding light on the little-known history of the cultural exchanges that took place between Germany and its former Polynesian colony during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  Using period photographs as well as objects from the museum's own collection, the installation's curators also enlisted the aid of Samoan nationals to help shed light on this unique period in history.

View the exhibition's official website.

Imagery courtesy of the Museum für Völkerkunde

The Colonial Album at the Pitt Rivers Museum

This exhibition shows how very ‘ordinary’ albums from the colonial period can provide a unique insight into the colonial experience. Colonial albums are common, owned by many families who were involved in colonial activities, such as administration, missions, engineering, medical work or teaching. They are now recognized as important historical documents, and yet they are rarely seen.

The albums exhibited were produced by Percy Coriat, Ernest Emley and William Freer Hill between 1905 and 1935, and relate to periods spent in Sudan, Kenya, and Nigeria respectively. All three use photography as a tool to communicate and record the relationships between different cultures within a colonial context.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Pagan hunter (print enlargement) -  William Freer Hill  -  Nigeria, 1905–1915

Album  -  William Freer Hill  -  Nigeria, 1905–1915

Album  -  E. D. Emley  -  Kenya, 1914–1948

Album  -  Percy Coriat  -  Sudan, 1928–1931

Text and images courtesy of the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford