The appeal of the Philippines: Spain, cultural representation and politics

This text examines the different means through which Spain has revisited its ex-colony - the Philippines - since 2000.

Focusing on several major exhibitions organised in the period 1998-2017, the 'poetics' (narratives and meaning) and 'politics' (institutional power) of Spanish representations of the Philippines are critically examined.

Even though Spain's intention was to offer a fresh and updated look at the Philippines through the events organised, there was also a tendency to refer to and recreate a colonial past, posing important questions about the continuity of conceptions concerning the old Spanish Empire in the 21st Century.