Eurocentricism

This tour highlights the issue of ‘eurocentrism’ which relates to these five objects. Eurocentrism is a term coined in the 1980s which refers to a worldview which focuses on European history. The adjective ‘eurocentric’ is generally used to criticise portrayals of European civilisations and culture as pre-eminent and superior to others. This idea recurs in the provenance of all five of the objects in this exhibition.

Here is a map which shows the paths each of the objects has taken, from their origins to eventually joining the Museums and Collections at University College London. These origins consist of either the place where the object was made or found, for example the Termite Queen, or the origins of the practices which were used to create the object, namely the Roman Floor Tile. Some of these are approximate, as the provenance of some objects is unknown.

Click on the map key to find out more about each of the object paths.