“The Divider” Artist Statement:

The Rise of Nationalism and Populism

By Emily Dimou and Drew McAuley

Creationist Myth:

The Tale of the Divider

The Divider comes from a group of nomadic beings from Ancient Greece who influence
the minds of the world’s most influential people. He instills a need for division and separation
amongst people in order to segregate his people, ironically while claiming that he is uniting the
population. He is said to have been touched by King Midas himself, giving him an all gold
appearance. In being touched by Midas, The Divider gained the selfish qualities of the king.
However, after seeing what had been done to his creator by the gods, The Divider acquired
separatist qualities. This included opposing foreign powers and dividing classes of people into
silent majorities and the elite. All things that were seen to be foreign or elitist were exiled
ideologies and became solidified in gold. Those who were deceived by his power gained access
to his inner circle, only to realize that it was not the paradise they had been told of by The
Divider. The inner circle was a lonely place void of both variety and order where all decisions
were made by The Divider, for The Divider, with little regard to the wants and needs of the
people.
The golden skin of The Divider coats him with an extravagant, elegant look, appealing to
all while in reality, the surface is quite malleable, showing that upon inspection of The Divider,
he is not all that he seems. He is covered in a sheer purple shroud to give him an appearance of
royalty all while showing his shimmering skin. The Divider appears to have no facial features,
however, when under the influence of his ideologies, his true face is revealed, taking the form of
a trustworthy leader to only further his control over his subjects.
Introduction:
The two topics represented within the Shaman are ​The Effects of Nationalism on
International Relations ​and ​The Rise of Populism​. These two topics are closely intertwined,
because both have the ability to be used as a political tactic to gain voter support, and to be
utilized to unite the people in response to a perceived common enemy and divide groups of
people.
Nationalism is an ideology wherein one ensures that their group benefits, even to the
detriment of another. Populism unites the underspoken majority (“ordinary” people), and turns
them against the minority that are often characterized as threatening the common good.
Nationalistic leaders (those who believe their country’s success is more important than all else)
use populism as a tactic to rally their voter population and put them against a common enemy.
For example, in America, Donald Trump is a nationalist leader who uses populist rhetoric to
unite Americans against the illegal immigrants (the group he has deemed as the “common
enemy”).
Nationalism and populism work together to support each other. Nationalism is inspired
by fear of having one’s own country or group becoming forgotten, replaced or overthrown.
Populism builds off of that fear to unite the population and build a stronger sense of unity, and it
gives people the ability to “fight back” against the enemy.

Theme:
The Shaman represents the powerful, elite leaders uniting a group of people with a shared
characteristic. Our shaman represents the manipulation of power and use of divisive tactics that
political leaders use to maintain control of their country’s citizenry. In addition, a common
theme for both nationalism and populism is separatism. The two topics largely revolve around
segregating and closing off one group from another. This is one theme conveyed within The
Divider due to the wall and its propaganda. Lastly, the third theme being conveyed is fear. Fear
drives the ideology of nationalism because nationalism is largely used to protect identity and
borders. Populism uses fear to inspire the populus to unite against the perceived enemy. The fear
is demonstrated through the overpowering figure, as well as the dark backdrop.
EXPLANATION OF SYMBOLISM

The Black Wall: ​The black wall behind The Divider represents fear, deception, and empty
promises as black is an all encompassing colour. Fear is a common tactic and supporting factor
behind both nationalism and populism. Often times, empty promises are used as deception to
gain the support of certain groups as well as separate. Fear fuels the nationalist ideology, and it
builds the populist campaigns. It is a very important factor to include while creating a physical
representation of the two concepts.
The black is also a representation of the empty, prejudiced words spoken from the
leaders. This is because The Divider gives off an appealing appearance, however behind the veil
is an empty void backed by fear and protectionism. The black represents the emptiness and
failure that comes from shutting off borders and people while unifying a single group alone. The
black is an empty hole that represents what lies behind the powerful and intriguing rhetoric.

Gold body: ​The gold body of the divider represents greed because of Midas’ curse. King Midas
is a famous figure in greek mythology. The Greek God Dionysus granted Midas a wish, and he
chose to wish to have everything he touched turn into gold. King Midas’ greed and desire for
riches destroyed him. His food, his loved ones, and anything else he came into contact with
turned into gold. The moral of his story is that wealth and power is a dangerous weapon. The
reason why The Divider is gold and represents Midas’ greed is because behind all populist and
nationalist leaders, there is an underlying personal agenda for increased power that, when
unchecked, will ultimately become a destructive power within the country.
Nationalism is an egotistical, selfish ideology, wherein the goal is to prosper even while
others suffer. Nationalism’s goal is to ensure the prosperity of one’s own group. Here, the gold
Shaman represents a false illusion of the thriving country, but with the underlying message that
the need to only thrive within your own country will one day fail because nationalism destroys
the relationships necessary to maintain both economic and strategic allies. Populism is a political
tactic that uses powerful rhetoric to manipulate the population. Here, the gold represents the
leader using their power to spread their message to the population. However, much like the gold
spreading in a destructive manner, eventually the leader’s often toxic message will divide the
citizenry and lead to internal conflict and the erosion of the society.
Overall, the gold represents the underlying theme of greed and false sense of quality with
nationalism and populism.

Purple veil: ​The purple veil represents power and a sense of superiority. Purple is regarded as a
royal colour. Within countries, nationalistic mindsets often times can be supported by dynamic
and influential leaders, such as President Donald Trump. Those leaders then use populism to
unite their group and spread their message across their nation. The purple veil worn by The
Divider represents what the people see. The population sees a powerful figure spouting
compelling words and rhetoric, and urging one group to unite against another. However, the
population does not always see the hidden message of greed and personal agendas, which is
represented through the gold body. The purple veil is the representation of the manipulation of
power that empowers the population to think one way or another.

The flag: ​The flag is a representation of our case studies from our two research papers. The
combination of both nationalist and populist countries come together to form one unified flag. In
addition, the flag is one of the most powerful nationalist symbols. It unites a country like no
other.

Puppet: ​The puppet being held in the Shaman’s hand represents the control that the leaders
have. The leaders of these groups and countries are able to manipulate the population using their
words and speeches. They have the control, much like a puppet master has control over the
puppet. The puppet is black because it represents all who are under the spell of a manipulative,
controlling leader. Black shows the facelessness of the group, and the lack of individuality
which results in the unity that the leaders need. There is only one very basic black puppet being
displayed because black absorbs all colours, so black is also used to represent how the whole
unified group is being absorbed into one faceless , manipulated group.
The Wall ​The wall is a representation of the physical and metaphorical barrier keeping one
group away from another. In both nationalism and populism, a common theme is the uniting of a
group. The wall or border is an essential component to successfully conveying the message of
what populism and nationalism truly is.
While using populist ideas, there is a metaphorical barrier put up between the perceived
under represented majority and the perceived threatening minority. With nationalism, typically a
physical border is placed between countries. However, in other cases there are metaphorical
barriers in place to define a group of people with shared characteristics (language, ethnicity,
culture).
The propaganda on the wall is used to showcase and represent some of the common
thoughts of someone with a nationalist and/or populist mindset. Nationalism inspires a “we are
the best, we are number one” mindset in order to further their agenda of prosperity. “We are
united” is a thought that goes along with both populism and nationalism. With populism, those
who are in the under represented majority are united against the “elite,” and with nationalism one
country or group is united against another.
The sign at the very front of the wall reads “We Are Full.” This is to showcase that if one
is not in the represented group, then there is no chance of being accepted as part of said group.

Gold Path ​The gold path represents the false path to salvation because often times, when people
go to another country, it is search of asylum or refuge. The gold in the path represents the how
there is a false sense of hope, because although some countries seem promising, due to
nationalist and populist mindsets, one will be blocked by a wall (further reasoning behind “we
are full”).
In America, many people go there seeking asylum. However, due to President Trump’s
uniting of the population based off of illegal immigrants, they are likely to be turned away. Other
countries using populist tactics and uniting against the immigrant population include Hungary,
where Prime Minister Viktor Orban has created laws in place (“Stop Soros”) to demonize those
who help immigrants and asylum seekers, as well as the immigrants themselves.
 The gold path is important to symbolize the detrimental effects of populism and
nationalism. It demonstrates the misleading appearance of countries such as the United States,
when in reality those who are not part of the “inner group” are not welcomed.

People outside the wall ​The black people outside of the wall represents the irony of the wall.
This is because the wall, whether it is metaphorical or literal, is in place to keep those who are
not in the represented group out. The reason why they are black is to show that in the end, they
are the same as those who are inside of the wall, and those people are represented by the puppet.
They are people too, searching for a home amidst this wave of populism and nationalism
spreading across the globe. Much like the black puppet/marionette, the people outside of the wall
are trying to get in and be a part of the group. They are there are there to show that people are
people, and inside people are all the same.
Their hands are up to represent supplication to the powerful within the walls. They are
calling out to be recognized and shown mercy. In many cases, people are trying to get through
the wall in order to seek refuge. Despite nationalist and populist rhetoric, the refugee seekers are
not looking to harm anyone, take over or replace the existing group. For the purposes of this
specific art piece, however, the people on the outside are signifying the deep desire to be within
the protection of the walls and the desperate nature of many people’s situation.