(no subject)
Yesterday I went with crunchcandy to see the Between Worlds exhibit at the National Portrait gallery.
The exhibit focuses on the personalities of a handful statesmen and entrepreneurs rather than the idea of immigrant's "otherness" as the title suggests. I was hoping for more portraiture that explored this idea, and was disappointed. I thought it was a bizarre choice to use the ambiguous figure of Brant as the poster-boy for the show. After seeing the show I assume it's his exotic headress behind this choice. I can't look at the poster without thinking about the current, shameless ad for chocolate ice cream bars that feature white women in "Ethnic" feathered headresses (it looks Mayan, but the giant lolly they are praying to looks like Polynesian) on their knees eating "extra dark" lollies.
Ah, Britain-- where cultural hybridity is understood primarily through cuisine. A culinary trip through London is a colonial journey, save the pit stop for fish and chips and a greasy fry up. Sometimes I believe the only reason Americans are allowed in the country is because we brought AMERICAN FRIED CHICKEN (sold in every kebab shop on the high street) to Britain. Oh, and all other fast food.
But I digress. One thing all the portraits personalities had in common was the compromised "deal" they had struck with England, but this was minimized in the brief narratives. From the catalog: "A chronicle of mutual discoveries in which individuals and cultures are changed by the repercussions of connection" OK, sure. Also, they had beads and feathers for sale in the bookshop alongside the catalog. It's a model of immigration that modern Britain will use, especially with the new restrictions coming into place-- immigrants, or "visitors" in the language of the catalog, bring ideas, culutal currency and khol-i-noor diamonds in exchange for the Queen's favor.
Portraits of Deen Mahomed, "Shampooing Surgeon", were hung beside his red velvet vest in a case.
I was really into this vest and wished I had something like it. I stared at long enough to realize Deen Mahomed and I are probably the same size. Maybe because of this, I've been Googling him.
In Brighton, where he had his bath house, there's a bus named after him. But before that he opened the very first curry house called Hindoostane Coffee House in central London. It served "Indianized" British food and was only open two years. He wrote his memoirs as well as a treatise on the benefits of shampooing-- as far as I can tell, this refers to a steam bath massage? He married an Irish woman. I would like to see Hanif Kureshi write the story of his life. As a musical.
The only woman featured in the show is Saartje Baartman, the "Hottentot Venus"-- famous for her exploitation rather than her exploits. The summary of her life in the show neglects to explain that she was also a talented performer, and a more complex figure than the notes, which paint her as an abject victim, would lead us to believe. A print from 1810 shows a cupid perched on her buttocks, aiming an arrow toward the veiwer, a speech bubble from his mouth says, "Take care of your hearts" as she glances back at him knowingly. It's a caricature, but everything about it infers subversion, which is much more compelling than damning her life as a tragedy, which of course it was, but there is more to it. What the Western viewer saw in the beautiful "Little Sara" was something they missed in themselves. Rachel Holmes's biography of Saatje was featured on BBC Woman's hour, and presents a more complex portrait. Unmentioned in the Between Worlds curator's notes is Saartje's influence on the Victorian fashion innovation of the bustle.
Her naked presence among the other potraits-- all proud, clothed men-- angered me. Such a shameful omission (surely an additional woman could have been featured?) and a damning exammple of the failure of tokenism in multicultural projects.
It all seemed a bit cursory and trivialized, a missed opportunity. It would have been more compelling to have at least one wall covered with anonymous portratis-- more honest to say, we don't know who they are.
EDIT: If you want to see a web version of the bizarre chocolate ad, go here: http://www.mymagnum.co.uk/ and wait for it to load. Click on the darkest chocolate bar (Oy!) in the flash animation.
The exhibit focuses on the personalities of a handful statesmen and entrepreneurs rather than the idea of immigrant's "otherness" as the title suggests. I was hoping for more portraiture that explored this idea, and was disappointed. I thought it was a bizarre choice to use the ambiguous figure of Brant as the poster-boy for the show. After seeing the show I assume it's his exotic headress behind this choice. I can't look at the poster without thinking about the current, shameless ad for chocolate ice cream bars that feature white women in "Ethnic" feathered headresses (it looks Mayan, but the giant lolly they are praying to looks like Polynesian) on their knees eating "extra dark" lollies.
Ah, Britain-- where cultural hybridity is understood primarily through cuisine. A culinary trip through London is a colonial journey, save the pit stop for fish and chips and a greasy fry up. Sometimes I believe the only reason Americans are allowed in the country is because we brought AMERICAN FRIED CHICKEN (sold in every kebab shop on the high street) to Britain. Oh, and all other fast food.
But I digress. One thing all the portraits personalities had in common was the compromised "deal" they had struck with England, but this was minimized in the brief narratives. From the catalog: "A chronicle of mutual discoveries in which individuals and cultures are changed by the repercussions of connection" OK, sure. Also, they had beads and feathers for sale in the bookshop alongside the catalog. It's a model of immigration that modern Britain will use, especially with the new restrictions coming into place-- immigrants, or "visitors" in the language of the catalog, bring ideas, culutal currency and khol-i-noor diamonds in exchange for the Queen's favor.
Portraits of Deen Mahomed, "Shampooing Surgeon", were hung beside his red velvet vest in a case.
I was really into this vest and wished I had something like it. I stared at long enough to realize Deen Mahomed and I are probably the same size. Maybe because of this, I've been Googling him.
In Brighton, where he had his bath house, there's a bus named after him. But before that he opened the very first curry house called Hindoostane Coffee House in central London. It served "Indianized" British food and was only open two years. He wrote his memoirs as well as a treatise on the benefits of shampooing-- as far as I can tell, this refers to a steam bath massage? He married an Irish woman. I would like to see Hanif Kureshi write the story of his life. As a musical.
The only woman featured in the show is Saartje Baartman, the "Hottentot Venus"-- famous for her exploitation rather than her exploits. The summary of her life in the show neglects to explain that she was also a talented performer, and a more complex figure than the notes, which paint her as an abject victim, would lead us to believe. A print from 1810 shows a cupid perched on her buttocks, aiming an arrow toward the veiwer, a speech bubble from his mouth says, "Take care of your hearts" as she glances back at him knowingly. It's a caricature, but everything about it infers subversion, which is much more compelling than damning her life as a tragedy, which of course it was, but there is more to it. What the Western viewer saw in the beautiful "Little Sara" was something they missed in themselves. Rachel Holmes's biography of Saatje was featured on BBC Woman's hour, and presents a more complex portrait. Unmentioned in the Between Worlds curator's notes is Saartje's influence on the Victorian fashion innovation of the bustle.
Her naked presence among the other potraits-- all proud, clothed men-- angered me. Such a shameful omission (surely an additional woman could have been featured?) and a damning exammple of the failure of tokenism in multicultural projects.
It all seemed a bit cursory and trivialized, a missed opportunity. It would have been more compelling to have at least one wall covered with anonymous portratis-- more honest to say, we don't know who they are.
EDIT: If you want to see a web version of the bizarre chocolate ad, go here: http://www.mymagnum.co.uk/ and wait for it to load. Click on the darkest chocolate bar (Oy!) in the flash animation.