Jake Phillips

• BA (Hons) History
• Portrayals of nationhood within a post-colonial environment: The Ibero-American Exhibition in Seville, 1929

My research project analyses how the former Spanish colonies presented themselves in Spain during the 20^th century. This is especially important because many of the nations involved had only recently became independent from Spain, allowing me to see which Spanish influences had or have survived. The main avenue of research involved analysing the still-standing buildings of the Exposición Ibero-Americana 1929 in Seville, Spain. This was supplemented with primary source material from Seville’s municipal archive, which includes correspondence between the nations involved. The exposition focused on Latin-America, with 23 nations taking part in total. Each country built its own pavilion to display what Latin-Americans believed to exhibit their technology and culture. All of the pavilions were unique in their appearance and their contents, allowing me to understand the ways in which the former colonies recognised their Spanish heritage, while simultaneously underpinning the unique, indigenous characteristics of their national culture.

Funding source: Newcastle University

Supervisor: Dr Keith Brewster