Friday, September 26, 2014

Is Raising Awareness Racist?

Brett Bailey's 'Exhibit B'

I heard about an art exhibit in the UK called "Exhibit B". It was shut down because it was labeled as being racist. It depicts slavery in scenes using live actors. Some are chained to beds and others are on display as examples of their race.

Here is an article about the show: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-29344483

In my opinion, it raises awareness about the history of slavery and how slavery was a horrible institution. I understand how it is seen as racist, but I don't think that is what the artists were trying to project. They wanted to show why racism is bad, why slavery was bad, and make people aware of it through shock value. Portraying slavery with live actors makes it all to real for some people and I think it makes many people uncomfortable with confronting what was actually done to slaves on a regular basis.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting, how people seem to try to do anything to prevent from seeing or being brought to a thought that makes them uncomfortable, even if it's important.

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