The pictures of the mutilated African woman/'a la Sarah Baartman are from an event that was held in Sweden at the Museum of Modern Art.
The cake was designed by Makode Linde who is of African descent. It was supposed to have a specific purpose as artistic teaching tool. The lesson was supposed to be about the pain of Genital Mutilation.
Here's a video of participants as they cut into the cake. The person that you hear crying out in pain is Linde. He is the person who is occupying the face mask.
Does facial expressions and body language state what did not happen at this exhibit? Does it look like anyone is really feeling the pain of their slices into that body.
The first time that I saw the pictures and looked at the smiling face of the Art Minister as she sliced down into that cake, I honestly wanted to slap the grin off of her face because she obviously was having too much fun mutilating the piece. At that particular moment I had no real clue about the circumstances of the event. It was all visual for me and what these brown eyes saw was just too insulting in a 360 degree manner. Even after I had the full account of the details my initial feelings of outrage were only heightened when I realized that the artist was an African.
He has defended his intent and the depiction of Black woman hood by contending that this was the best way to discuss the topic of genital mutilation.
Really?
From the response and interactions on the video it appears that more than genital mutilation needs to be discussed.
How about the imagery of the woman's body? How about the way that she looks physically? Are Black women supposed to just by pass this imagery to focus on the subject of genital mutilation while we witness a group of White people slicing into the cake smiling and joking as if they are really enjoying this particular moment. Makode Linde has defended his work but it is just not acceptable to me as a woman of African descent. If the goal was to teach and create empathy for the girls who have to endure their genital actually being mutilated then this is an EPIC FAIL!
The whole cake is a form of psychological mutilation to our entire bodies, minds and souls.
The cake's imagery is sending a message that we have been pushing back for centuries about our physical bodies. An imagery that negates the beauty of being a Black woman is one that we honestly do not need. We get enough negative messages during the course of the day about beauty standards and how we need to alter our physical features to be acceptable within mainstream society.
Enough is Enough!
I am tired of this type of racist treatment being directed at Black women! In this case it is just too much to endure to keep quiet about. The imagery is so grotesque that it ended up over shadowing the initial purpose of the piece.
This work of art was supposedly fashioned around Saartjie (Sarah) Baartman's body. She endured so many forms of disrespect during her life time and even after her death. The idea of connecting this cake to Saartjie is just another form of insult to her memory.
This could have been a real teachable moment on how Genital Mutilation really effects the health and lives of the females who have endured this custom. Instead of being a pro-female project it ended up in the perpetual swirl of controversy about Black women.
2 comments:
I so agree with you & Ms. Afropolitan has wonderful article about this issue on her site. There is a petition that I signed as well to protest this mockery. As I said in my comment on the above site--It was as if the scab was rubbed off. The wound incurred when I did research on Sarah Baartman.
http://www.msafropolitan.com/2012/04/an-open-letter-from-african-women-to-the-minister-of-culture-the-venus-hottentot-cake.html
Love your site!!
As an artist and a human in general, I find that whole production outrageous!
The "artist" is a sick person.
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