You are now standing where the imperial institute once stood, all that remains today of the old imperial institute is the Queen`s tower. Following the Colonial and Indian exhibition of 1886, a permanent center in London had to be established to demonstrate the commercial, industrial and cultural accomplishments of the British empire.[1] The need for a permanent institution was motivated by new colonial acquisitions and motivated by economic and political considerations. During the 1870s and 1880s, Britain was impacted by an economic depression and there were increasing anxieties about the loss of British economic supremacy to American and German competitiveness. Therefore, if Britain could maintain closer and unified relations with its colonies by building a structural institution, it could maintain economic supremacy.[2] On 13 May 1893, a building named the Imperial Institute opened its doors and would effectively display British imperial and economic supremacy. An elaborate opening ceremony of the Imperial Institute was attended by Queen Victoria and numerous colonial representatives.[3] The Imperial Institute was originally intended to be a museum, yet during the planification process there was a vague consensus regarding the role and scope of the institution.[4] By 1956, many colonies were declaring independence and began the process of decolonization. In such a context, the imperial institute began to symbolize an irrelevant relic that served an imperialist past. Between 1957 to 1962 the imperial institute was destroyed and replaced by new Imperial College buildings. Although the institute was destroyed, conservationists were able to preserve the main tower and it was renamed after the institutes architect Thomas Collcutt.[5] The imperial institute was subsequently replaced by the Commonwealth Institute built between 1958 and 1962 and located in Holland Park. The Commonwealth Institute simply revamped and modernised exhibitions from the Imperial Institute in an era of post-colonial rule.[6]

[1] Alex Bremner, "Some Imperial Institute: Architecture, Symbolism, and the ideal of Empire in Late Victorian Britain, 1887-93," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 62, no. 1 (2003): 52.

[2] Ibid., 51.

[3] Mark Crinson, "Imperial Story-lands: Architecture and Display at the Imperial and Commonwealth Institutes," Art History 22, no. 1 (1999): 105.

[4] "Imperial Institute," in Survey of London: Volume 38, South Kensington Museums Area, ed. F. Sheppard (London, 1975), http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol38/pp220-227.

[5] Mark Crinson, "Imperial Story-lands: Architecture and Display at the Imperial and Commonwealth Institutes," Art History 22, no. 1 (1999): 115-116.

[6] Claire Wintle, "Decolonising the Museum: The Case of the Imperial and Commonwealth Institutes," Museum and Society 11, no. 2 (2013): 188.

The Imperial Institute's ideas and practices changed most evidently in the institutions approach to its exhibitions. Prior to the First World War the exhibits comprised of cases filled with different kinds of wools, fibres, and foodstuffs which all appear very much alike and were not very engaging or interesting for the masses.[1] Colonial exhibitions during the interwar stressed the importance of inter-imperial trade as a means of combating the economic depression of the interwar period.[2] Since the Imperial Institute concentrated solely on imperial trade and development, it would become important to renew exhibits and advertise the empire and its goods to British consumers. Furthermore, there were political implications for renewal in the Institutes exhibitions. Specifically, in demonstrating to the newly emerged "white" Commonwealth states the economic benefits of engaging with the British empire.[3] Nonetheless, between 1919 and 1924 there was a lack of progress in the reinvention of the institute's exhibition. Due to lack of funding and criticisms regarding misrepresentation, the institute considered permanently closing its exhibition galleries. South Africa and Australia believed that they should be responsible in exhibiting their own national products.[4] Nonetheless, the exhibitions at the imperial institute changed dramatically after 1925 from the taxonomy of goods to the display of "empire story-lands" filled with large models and dioramas containing eye-catching information.[5] The shift to empire story-lands correlates with British anxieties regarding their loss of prominence in the world and invigorates a need to re-imagine the empire. According to theorists, museums renew identity and restore order in the self or to the world.[6] The impact of the Institute's exhibits on visitors is difficult to assess due to a lack of sources. Nonetheless, one visitor from Australia praised the accuracy of the Australian exhibit yet criticized the lack of "interesting" dioramas for other colonies, notably those of Trinidad and Fiji.[7] Based on this visitor's assessment, it suggests that there was more emphasis on the display of "white" Commonwealth colonies compared to non-white colonies which reinforced notions of colonial hierarchies.

Although exhibitions became more significant to the Institute during the interwar period, research into the extraction, production and commercialization of raw materials still maintained a primary function at the institute. The development of the colonies through the Institute's research reinforced and maintained imperial oversight and exploitation of colonial resources. Furthermore, the Institute's research and developmental programs reinforced concepts of technological hierarchy and a need to civilize underdeveloped colonies. For example, the Institute helped research and develop tin and coal industries in Nigeria. These resources were then used by the British during the Great War.[8] Therefore, the colonial government was limited in choosing how its resources are developed, or how its products are exported. Indeed, the institutes research and developmental programs seem to act as an imperial trojan horse to gain immediate and pre-developmental access to colonial resources for exploitation. Furthermore, there is a correlation between the Institute's development of resources and the maintenance of British supremacy. Notably, the Times reported in 1926 that the Institutes research and development of the silk industry in Cyprus would deter the export of cocoons to France and Italy.[9] Therefore, the institute was instrumental in attempting to maintain imperialism and British supremacy during the interwar period. In conclusion, the imperial institute which symbolized "imperial greatness" at the end of the nineteenth century changed dramatically to deal with the decline of empire in the interwar period.

[1] Mark Crinson, "Imperial Story-lands: Architecture and Display at the Imperial and Commonwealth Institutes," Art History 22, no. 1 (1999): 111.

[2] Daniel Mark Stephen, "The White Man's Grave: British West Africa and the British Empire Exhibition of 1924-1925" Journal of British Studies 48, (2009): 102.

[3] Mark Crinson, "Imperial Story-lands: Architecture and Display at the Imperial and Commonwealth Institutes," Art History 22, no. 1 (1999): 111.

[4] "Imperial Institute Galleries: Government Decision Welcomed," The Times, April 2, 1926, London.

[5] Mark Crinson, "Imperial Story-lands: Architecture and Display at the Imperial and Commonwealth Institutes," Art History 22, no. 1 (1999): 111.

[6] Ibid., 100.

[7] Franz Fenner, "Chapter Nine, Overseas Diary extracts on Science," in The Lives and Frank and Charles Fenner (Canberra, ANU E Press, 2006), 286.

[8] "The Imperial Institute: Development of the Empire's Resources," The Times, September 18, 1926, London.

[9] Ibid.

Bibliography

Primary Sources:

Franz Fenner, "Chapter Nine, Overseas Diary extracts on Science," in The Lives and Frank and Charles Fenner (Canberra, ANU E Press, 2006), 286.

"Imperial Institute Galleries: Government Decision Welcomed," The Times, April 2, 1926, London.

"The Imperial Institute: Development of the Empire's Resources," The Times, September 18, 1926, London.

Secondary Sources:

Bremner, Alex. "Some Imperial Institute: Architecture, Symbolism, and the ideal of Empire in Late Victorian Britain, 1887-93." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 62, no. 1 (2003): 50-73.

Crinson, Mark. "Imperial Story-lands: Architecture and Display at the Imperial and Commonwealth Institutes." Art History 22, no. 1 (1999): 99-123.

"Imperial Institute," in Survey of London: Volume 38, South Kensington Museums Area, ed. F. Sheppard (London, 1975), http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol38/pp220-227.

Stephen, Daniel Mark. "The White Man's Grave: British West Africa and the British Empire Exhibition of 1924-1925." Journal of British Studies 48, (2009): 102-128.

Wintle, Claire. "Decolonising the Museum: The Case of the Imperial and Commonwealth Institutes."Museum and Society 11, no. 2 (2013): 185-201.