Created for the cover of my dissertation titled ‘The Pineapple as a Utopian Symbol: A Harbinger for Colonialism in the 21st Century’, this illustration explores the presence of the pineapple in both historical and present day culture.
As a child I have a distinct memory of asking Father Christmas for a pineapple in my stocking, so, having heard the above quote live at the Playhouse Theatre, London in March of 2025, the iconography of the fruit came to mind when searching for a topic for my dissertation. While not immediately obvious how or why this inanimate object held such significance in my mind, the more I researched the pineapple’s history and influence in the modern day, the more visible was a dichotomy painted with connotations of wealth, warmth and an idealisation of the exotic contrasting imperialism, power and exploitation of the lowest class – these dualities bringing rise to a myriad of further questions I explored in my writing.
