Primitive derives from the Latin word primitivus, meaning the first-born or first of its kind. In European thought, it became synonymous with the racialized and temporal “Other” and was applied to cultures that were imagined as existing in a distant past (see Marijke Kunst and Simone Vermaat in this publication) that lacked qualities that were seen as European, specifically progress and rationality. The term is before still used today to denote someone or something as simple and uncivilized. “Primitivism” is a movement in art that connotes the beauty, natural qualities, or romance of a simpler way of life, in contrast to a more advanced, industrialized Europe. Both the term “primitive”, like the artistic movement, have received significant criticism from diverse quarters including academics.