The Unauthorized Histography of California Vol 1
- vandalayinc
- Oct 10, 2018
- 1 min read
Updated: Jan 5, 2020
Currently on display: Oct. 6 - Dec. 15, 2018
CALAFIA: Manifesting the Terrestrial Paradise
Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art
California State University San Bernardino

Still from The Unauthorized Histography of California Vol. 1, 2018
Appropriation art collage piece
work-in-progress
The Unauthorized Histography of California Volume 1 is an appropriated video
collage exploring how individual and institutional predispositions towards
patriarchal models intersect and impact notions of race, class, gender, sexuality,
and nation.
In the early 1500’s Spanish writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo created Queen
Calafia. In a time when colonization was in its infancy he established a portrait
of the powerful ruler of an independent, matriarchal, and militarized kingdom. In
2001, Disney re-appropriated her image in the now closed 23-minute multimedia
experience “Golden Dreams” telling the history of California through several
recreated scenes narrated by the fictional warrior queen. Introduced as the
“Queen of California” she watched over the viewers as witness, mother, and
protector as they observed admirable and regrettable incidents in the history of
California’s creation.
The Unauthorized Histography of California Volume 1 represents Calafia through
the image of Diouana the main protagonist in the movie La Noir De (aka Black
Girl) directed by Ousmane Sembène. Diouana, represents a break from
Eurocentric conventions by providing films first African perspective on the tense
relationships between the formerly colonized and colonizer. In The Unauthorized
Histography of California Volume 1 Diouana guides the viewer through historic
flashes of the gold rush, white flight, and the LA Riots. This exploration of California
history highlights the confluence of violence and patriarchy as a destabilizing
hypermasculinist model.
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