Very good comment in response to an article written by that guy who made that thing that was withdrawn the other day... To Brett Bailey: Referring to tens of thousands of people, as well as the various Black organisations and Trade Union groups, who have petitioned against you as a mob shows your contempt for not only black people but also the working class generally. The fact that the barbican in their statements have referred to a fear of violence only shows their racism and anti-working class basis too. the protests were performative. just as your work is performative. You should not be surprised of this reaction in London. We are very organised in resisting racism here. This is the place where the first slave writers were published. This is the place where we forced our voice to be heard then and we will now. You would however be more correct in not talking of the global capital of democracy but rather the democracy of global Capital - it is no surprise either that you are supported but the capitalists of the City of London Corporation. And so also it is no surprise that rather than engage with the political arguments raised against you, your are simply invoking Art as your defence against any criticism. For us you are no different to other artists who create nothing as workers but rather are entrepreneurs who exploit and subjugate workers for the creation of cultural capital. So let us talk of Art. Both you and your workers/slaves claim to be representing Black people and so as Black people we are therefore part of this production also. So are the many Black organisations who are protesting and petitioning against you. And although we have solidarity with them all, we are petitioning either you or the City of London. We as part of this Art already. In order to fulfil your own aims of dealing with a “territory fraught with deep pain, anger and hatred” and to confront people with realities that are all too easy to leave festering in the dark” we suggest we need to also make you confront realities – and indeed feel pain. It is telling that you think the dark is a place to fester. For us it is a place to blossom. It is time you yourself enter the dark. It is also telling that you are quoted as saying that there are “people calling for a work of art to be banned because it expresses a view they don’t agree with”. So what precise view is Exhibit-B expressing? In the same interview no specific view is put forward – only the idea that this is supposed to “make people aware of systems of racism…” You have succeeded there. But we suggest a superior strategy. We suggest a far more effective work of Art would be for you to be shackled in the manner of a slave. For you to be held – like refugees are in this country, like men captured in Afghanistan in 2001 without trial, like people are all over the world because they are Black. And to replace Exhibit-B with a TV screen which will show you in our captivity, for a time period of our choosing, to be concluded when the work is sold to the highest bidder. INQALAB
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 14:53:43 +0000
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