Cold War "Cultural Safaris": Canadian Art, Cultural Diplomacy, and the Asian Commonwealth Tour.

The article examines the 1955 National Gallery of Canada’s exhibition tour of Canadian art to the "Asian commonwealth" countries—Pakistan, India, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)—as a case study of the complex relationship between Canadian cultural institutions and foreign policy during the Cold War. Developed alongside Canada’s participation in the Colombo Plan for economic development in South and Southeast Asia, the tour reflected a strategic use of cultural diplomacy aimed at promoting liberal values and countering communist influence, despite the National Gallery’s limited enthusiasm for the project. The exhibition, consisting of a modest selection of largely representational works by members of the Group of Seven, was less significant artistically but important politically, revealing tensions between the National Gallery’s desire for curatorial autonomy and the Department of External Affairs’ efforts to integrate art exhibitions into Canada’s international diplomatic agenda. Ultimately, the tour highlighted the challenges of aligning cultural and policy objectives within the Canadian state and underscored the evolving role of art exhibitions as instruments of foreign relations beyond major Western art centers.