Reinterpreting colonialism through the hands of Adriana Varejão and Henrietta Rose-Innes:

decolonizing porcelain and writing; heritage and entrails

Abstract

While considering the colonial heritage present in art produced in former European colonies, such as South Africa and Brazil, this text presents a comparison between the short story “Porcelain” (2012), by South African author Henrietta Rose-Innes and the works “Autorretratos coloniais” (1993), “Pele tatuada à moda de azulejaria” (1995-1996), and “Azulejaria ‘De Tapete’ em Carne Viva” (1999), by Brazilian artist Adriana Varejão, since we consider these productions as representative of issues of agency and for reinterpreting colonial heritage. In terms of theoretical input, we start from the assumptions of Aimé Césaire (2000), and his critique of the need for colonizing nations to subjugate colonized peoples, Frantz Fanon's (2022) position that colonial heritage must be reframed through action, and Ailton Krenak's (2019) observations regarding the impact of human action on the environment and, consequently, on those who will come after those who created each impact. To add to the theoretical support, some contributions related to postcolonialism, from Robert Young (2020) and Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin (2013), especially regarding the concepts of agency and, binarism, and subalternity (Spivak, 1990), are also addressed and assist in the analysis of the selected works. What can be inferred from the study is that the reinterpretation of colonial heritage can occur through art and resist and persist through it.