This Particular Masquerade by M.Eistrup
FOUR lambdaprint prints, 2x 300 x 4.1 x 24.1 cm and 2 x 600 x 4.1 x 24.1 cm.
INSTALLED as prints or in Wenge lightboxes.
First Exhibited at AMNESIA, Haugaur Museum, Vestfold, Trømso, Norway, (2013) Curator of Exhibit:Grethe Hald.
Exhibited at FORGOTTEN, Possesion: Art, Power and Black Womanhood, Curated by Dr. Temi Odomosu,
New Shelter Plan Artspace, Cph, DK.(2014)
Generous SUPPORT and FUNDING comes from:
The National Danish Arts Council and the International Danish Arts Counci http://www.kunst.dk/english/ towards the production of This Particular Masquerade, Unmasked and towards residency at Alice Yard in Trinidad.
How can I see you when you do not see me?
How can you imagine that I want to loose my color, my culture to your norms of validity, which means
being like you. How can you forget where you were and why I am here. How can you just not touch on
this part of your history, caress it and just for a moment let the pain seep in. Everything I tough, caress, and
validate around me in this foreign land denies my existence and yet it is there
Extract of Amnesia Sound_M.Eistrup Production: Anders Juhl
In 2005, the national museums of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland curated an exhibition “The Congo and the North”,based on 40,000 objects. Rais Boneza comments the following in ’Rethinking Nordic Colonialism (2006):
“It is stupefying that the Nordic countries have decided to exhibit “their” trophies, taken brutally from the people of the Congo without concern or any consultation with the Democratic Republic of Congo” ”We remember that under itsabusive colonization by Belgium, the population of the Congo, then estimated to 20 million people, decreased to the half. It was during that period that Nordic missionaries, members of the armed forces, seafarers and other adventurers took part in the pillage of the country”.
Boneza demonstrate that these national institutions stepped seriously away from reflecting on the history in this exhibit where they overlooked how the objects were initially acquired. Can their mistake be an grave example of a national Amnesia, which forms the basis of the atmosphere that we who come from a different background/history daily reside and move in?
My work is a response to what I perceive as a woman both of black ancestry and parentage who lives in a Nordic culture where a selective view of world history is the rule - and where real knowledge about Scandinavia’s relation to black people during the colonial period is the exception. Nowadays, it seems there is a great focus on Nordic charity for developing countries, and here again, the countries involved overlook the economic advantages being acquired through their relationships with these parts of the world.
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Amnesia by Grethe Hald
Exerpt from catalog
'Commemorative exhibitions jog our memories. Historical societies keep the past alive in their publications,and history lives on in cinema and theatre'.
'Amnesia: this Greek word for forgetfulness is also used for a condition that embraces nuances of exposure and concealment.Amnesia is suffered first and foremost by those who lose their memory, but indirectly the family and friends of someone afflicted with dementia are harshly affected. The causes of memory loss can be many and complex. Disease, accidents, and trauma may play a part, but it may also be linked to repression, the brain inducing temporaryamnesia to keep out unwanted impulses for a period of healing.
Amnesia brings together eight leading Nordic artists who offer their highly individual takes on the many-faceted condition of forgetfulness. Some are pre-existing works, others have been created or further developed for this exhibition. The artists have been free to interpret the open title in any way they wish. As are the public to interpret the works.
See AMNESIA Catalog
http://gallery.mailchimp.com/7598106346460784b6233c5ab/files/Amnesia_katalog_materie_130912.pdf
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Possession by Temi Odumosu
Possession
noun
1 the state of having, owning, or controlling something
2 an item of legal property; something belonging to a person, group or
political entity (i.e the government)
3 the state of being controlled by (or under the influence of) a demon,
spirit, idea or intense emotion
“If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's
fantasies for me and eaten alive.” - Audre Lorde
“There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you” - Maya Angelou
This exhibition showcases the work of 12 international Black women artists, whose work explores multiple concepts of being and belonging.Through deeply personal expressions these artists reflect on Black womanhood as a dynamic archive of knowledge, formed of flesh, spirit and memory. In mixed media practices and against the backdrop of their own biographies, they offer rare and beautiful insights into what it means to travel with this identity through public and private spaces, to dare to speak
where voices are often subdued or silenced, and to honour ancestral inheritances as creators of art. Whilst clearly confronting the enduring legacies of slavery and colonialismexperienced in their own lives, these artists also poetically demonstrate the
healing and transformative power of sharing ones own story with a community of witnesses.