A slavery exhibition featuring ‘black’ actors as live models to represent African slaves was recently cancelled by an art centre after protests of racism, sparking a debate about freedom of expression. The show titled Exhibit B was by South African director Brett Bailey at London’s Barbican Centre. Using ‘black’ actors in a series of live scenes, the exhibit aimed to tell the stories of African slaves and asylum seekers under British colonialism.
It comprised 12 installations, including a ‘black’ woman shackled to a bed and a ‘black’ man in a metal mask, which Bailey said were designed to recreate the horrors of slavery and the ‘human zoo phenomenon’ prevalent during that time. But over 200 demonstrators took to the streets outside the show staged in underground tunnels by Waterloo station in central London on Tuesday, prompting organisers to cancel the show’s eight scheduled performances last week.
“It became impossible for us to continue with the show because of the extreme nature of the protest and the serious threat to the safety of performers, audiences and staff,” a spokesman from the Barbican said in a statement. “We believe this piece should be shown in London and are disturbed at the potential implications this silencing of artists and performers has for freedom of expression.”
t is the first time that the Barbican has been forced to withdraw a show since its inauguration more than three decades ago. The ‘Boycott the Human Zoo’ campaign, led by activist Sara Myers, voiced concerns about what she called “a complicit act of outrageous racism” with a petition campaign over the past month, which later escalated to a street protest. The campaigners have termed the cancellation of the performances as a sign of victory. The show had been staged in around 12 cities around Europe before coming to London, receiving largely favourable reviews.
The cancellation of the show sparked a debate on Twitter, under the #boycottthehumanzoo hashtag, about what constitutes art and the boundaries of exploring race. Bailey, an award-winning artist and director who focuses on post-colonial “atrocities” in Africa and has previously run a show on conflict or “blood diamonds”, said Exhibit B was challenging but never sought to offend.
“Do any of us really want to live in a society in which expression is suppressed, banned, silenced, and denied a platform? My work has been shut down today, whose will be closed down tomorrow?” he wrote in an opinion editorial for the Guardian newspaper.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2014.
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