Alanna Lockward + Simmi Dullay

artlabour@yahoo.com + sdullay@gmail.com

DECOLONIZING SARAH BARTMANN OR HO! TO CREATE E"ISTEMIC
SHI#TS B$ RETHIN%ING EMAILS AS THEOR$
By Alanna Lockward and Simmi Dullay
Teresa Mara Da !erio" Hommage Sara Bartman" #$$%
&er'ormance ($)" *ideo +)" no,sound. -ourtesy o' the artist and Art Labour Archi.es.
The 'ollowing is an e/0erimental a00roach to the 1u/ta0osition o' 'rustrations"
ambitions and scholarshi0 shared by both o' us a'ter our 'ate'ul encounter at a
meeting on 2Decoloniing 3ender4 that took 0lace in Bremen" 3ermany" in
#$55. During the 0rocess o' discussing o0enly in the 'orum and also in
0ri.ate" the sel',righteousness and racism o' some white 'emale scholars we
decided to write a 'ormal res0onse to this indeed sym0tomatic and 2global4
state,o',a''airs. Little did we know that circumstances would accelerate the
urgency o' such a task in the un0redictable manner that li'e uses to 0ush us
into action.
6or the sake o' a 0ending argument" we would like to state that 'eminism
without hy0henation is still white 'eminism and there'ore continues to e/clude
Alanna Lockward + Simmi Dullay
artlabour@yahoo.com + sdullay@gmail.com
us as in the most 2brilliant4 moments o' 'irst" second and third wa.e. As long
as mainstream 'eminist theories re0ress and deliberately negate any
connection to the knowledge creation o' the -i.il 7ights Mo.ement and the
decolonial liberation u0risings o' the Tricontinent as the origins and source o'
what is also known as radical 'eminism or third wa.e" the 'eminism o'
identities" o' 8therness" o' 9ueerness" then we 'ind it suitable to make this
situation 0al0able by means o' using a terminology that re'lects this reality
such as white 'eminism.
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Alanna Lockward + Simmi Dullay
artlabour@yahoo.com + sdullay@gmail.com
:t must be made clear that this naming strategy is a tool to continue the
dialogue started already in the eighties by 0ioneers like Audre Lorde" who
.oiced the need to challenge and dismantle the hegemony o' racialied 0ower
structures so intrinsic to the history o' the women;s liberation mo.ement.
White 'eminism has listened to Lorde and written many new 0ages on 9ueer
theory" it has metamor0hosed into a giant white ele0hant in the room that
re'uses to 0osition its 0ri.ilege" to name itsel' white" and yet again insists on
leading the discourses o' Black 0eo0les) and Black women struggles and o'
all those constructed as 8thers.
8ur second contribution is to continue widening Audre Lorde;s s0ectrum in
Black 6eminist e0istemology by means o' underlining the key role o' short
notes <in her case 0oetry
5
" in ours" emails= in theoriation. >e create 'rom the
immediacy and 0recariousness o' 8therness and a recent turn o' a''airs has
gi.en us the o00ortunity to combine thera0y and theory through email
e/changes.
1
Over the last few years, writing a novel on tight finances, I came to appreciate the
enormous differences in the material demands between poetry and prose !s we reclaim our
literature, poetry has been the ma"or voice of poor, wor#ing class, and $olored women % & '
(he actual re)uirements to produce the visual arts also help determine, along class lines,
whose art is whose*
Lorde 5?@(A 55B
3
Alanna Lockward + Simmi Dullay
artlabour@yahoo.com + sdullay@gmail.com
Sarah Bartmann. Cnattributed cartoon" &aris" 5@5(. SourceA 7achel Dolmes.
The 'ollowing account by Simmi Dullay documents an email e/change on
Sarah Bartmann" how she is constructed and who has the legitimacy to
re0resent and narrate Bartmann;s e/0erience and how this 0er0etuates the
white gae on the Black body. This corres0ondence began at the De0artment
o' 3ender Studies o' a South A'rican uni.ersity on 8ctober 5(
th
" #$55.
E.ery week the coordinator <who ha00ens to be a young white woman= sends
out an email on the 0re0aration o' our tutorial. : decided to react to her last
tutorial email" since the 0re.ious year : had already raised my concerns about
the Eurocentric content o' our reader. : brought u0 9uestions o' to0ical
rele.ance against the background that the ma1ority o' our students are
A'rican" F-oloured) and South A'rican :ndian women" whom : 0re'er to re'er to
as Black based on Ste.e Biko)s conce0tualiation o' Black -onsciousness.
This is the 0aragra0h : 9uote written by the co,ordinator that 0rom0ted my
reactionA
What I usually do in the tutorial is begin by discussing +(he Body+ in
relation to the story of Saart"ie Baartman, I use this as a way in to
discussing how Baartman+s race and gender provided sites for her
enslavement, that her race and gender ,and to an e-tent her ancestral
history. were used to +differentiate her from Western norms+ / that her
body was seen as an aberration and this was directly lin#ed to her
race and se- ,and gender. and that assumptions grew in relation to
her se-uality and also follow on into discussions of Baartman+s
contraction of S(Is and begin ma#ing lin#s to how certain se-ualities
and se-ual practices become pathologi0ed ,and often blamed for the
4
Alanna Lockward + Simmi Dullay
artlabour@yahoo.com + sdullay@gmail.com
spread of S(Isthis is pic#ed up the following wee# in relation to
HI12!I3S.*
My written res0onse to the collecti.e email wasA
! ma"or part of the perpetuation of imperialism, coloniality, dominance
and privilege is carried through language, and this piece of writing that
you Gthe coordinatorH sent out to the tutors signifies part of the denial or
the amnesia of colonialism, of whiteness and the refusal of ta#ing
responsibility I am sad to come across a #ind of narrative that is
blatantly racist in its omission, as it was not IBaartman)s race noGrH
gender that 0ro.ided sites 'or her ensla.ementI" that her race and
gender" and to an e/tent her history" were used to Idi''erentiate her 'rom
>estern normsI though it was through !4456SSI16
675O$68(5I$IS9, through 6urope:s 6(H8O$68(5I$IS9, its
;!(5I!5$H!< paradigms and global anne-ations that ob"ectified
Baartman, that raciali0ed and fetishi0ed her into slavery, rape,
prostitution and premature death
3espite Baartmans death in poverty, festered away by e-ploitation,
disease and dislocation, gain and profit was still spun of her corpse (he
last thing to penetrate her was the sharp steel #nife of colonial
necrophilia dissecting and e-hibiting her body, displayed in
formaldehyde as scientific evidence constructed as racial ab"ection
compared to whiteness It is this WHI(686SS which remains invisible in
your te-t and therefore your te-t continues to rape, dissect and e-hibit
Baartman while e-onerating whiteness through surgically removing any
evidence of agency Why do you so easily ma#e the connection
between the Blac# body and disease, the ab"ectness and discourse of
Blac# e)uating victimhood= It is past three in the morning, but I had to
respond, because we cannot seriously be teaching Blac# women in
post/!partheid South !frica this #ind of colonial amnesia*
5
Alanna Lockward + Simmi Dullay
artlabour@yahoo.com + sdullay@gmail.com
And now the a'orementioned 0aragra0h o' the coordinator;s email analysed
by Alanna LockwardA
What I usually do in the tutorial is begin by discussing +(he Body+ in
relation to the story of Saart"ie Baartman, I use this as a way in to
discussing how Baartman+s race and gender*
3ender is not an organic natural thing" neither is JraceJ" there'ore this
sentence should readA JThe way in which Baartman;s was racialied by the
white normati.e <colonialist and genocidal= gaeJ" among many other o0tions.
provided sites for her enslavement
By whoK >ho ensla.ed herK The 0assi.e .oice in this sentence naturalies
ensla.ement o' 8thers by whites as the most logical thing in the 0lanet.
that her race and gender ,and to an e-tent her ancestral history.>
2Ancestral history2 o0erates as an otheriing 0arameter" Black 0eo0le ha.e
JancestryJ but no real JhistoryJ which is 0art o' the ubi9uitous legacy o' the
Lantian ethno,racial tetragon" as conce0tualied by >alter Mignolo and the a,
historical character o' the A'rican continent as 0er0etuated by Degel and
challenged by 8lu'emi Taiwo" among 8thers.
were used to +differentiate her from Western norms+ / that her body
was seen as an aberration
Again" it was seen by whoK The 0assi.e 'orm normalies the white gae
again and again.
and this was directly lin#ed to her race and se- ,and gender.*
!&o made this linkK
6
Alanna Lockward + Simmi Dullay
artlabour@yahoo.com + sdullay@gmail.com
and that assum0tions grew ...*
Assum0tionsK >ho made themK >hat about talking about the conte/t o'
these so called Jassum0tionsJ in 0seudo,scienti'ic JraceJ ideologiesK
>in relation to, to her se-uality and also follow on into discussions of
Baartman+s contraction of S(Is>
Sarah Bartmann did not JcontractJ" she was in'(c)(d by Euro0eans" by white
m(nM :nteresting how the author gi.es Bartmann agency only here. This is the
'irst and only time where the acti.e 'orm is used with regards to her.
Sarah Bartmann;s gra.e in Dackey" South A'rica. SourceA >iki0edia.
>and begin ma#ing lin#s to how certain se-ualities and se-ual
practices become>
They do not JbecomeJ they are acti.ely constructed in this way in a continuity
that it is only a Jdisco.eryJ 'or white 0eo0le.
>pathologised ,and often blamed for the spread of S(Is this is
pic#ed up the following wee# in relation to HI12!I3S.
7
Alanna Lockward + Simmi Dullay
artlabour@yahoo.com + sdullay@gmail.com
This sentence and its conte/t s0eaks .olumes about the white gae relentless
determination to 'ocus any argument on Blackness towards the 0athological
and its trauma. Dow about turning the narrati.e o' Sarah Bartmann into a
celebration o' re,e/istence and talk about how her remains ha.e returned to
South,A'rica thanks to Black 'eministas all o.er the world and 'inally under the
direct inter.ention o' !elson MandelaK
Dendrik >itbooi" !ama,Lhoisan -a0tain 'rom the same 0eo0le as Sarah Bartmann" who wrote one o'
the 'irst decolonial mani'estos against 3erman coloniers on August (th" 5@?# and was killed during the
Derero,!ama >ar in 5?$+. SourceA 3ugelberger" 3eorge M N >itbooi" Dendrik 5?@(A !ama !amibia.
Diary and letters o' -hie' Dendrik >itbooi. BostonA Boston Cni.ersity &ress.
>e will ne.er cease to ask 9uestions" white sisters" we are your outsider
sisters and our 'reedom is a legacy too wide to ignore" it is a 0recious gi't that
we must 0ass on to the ne/t generation o' Black -onsciousness 'eminist
scholars so they will realie that this is not only about Sarah BartmannA it is
about us and about our common legacies.
8
Alanna Lockward + Simmi Dullay
artlabour@yahoo.com + sdullay@gmail.com
No)(*
<O= >e ha.e chosen to s0ell Sarah Bartmann;s name in three di''erent ways.
The 'irst one in the title is the 3erman one" as Lockward would ha.e it and
also as Sara Bartman" in 6rench" as in the 0er'ormance 0iece by Teresa
Mara Da !erio" and in the way it is written in South,A'rica" Saart1ie
Baartman. This 0a0er was 0resented at the one day Sym0osiumA 27ethinking
3lobal 6eminism4" organied by &ro'. 3urminder L. Bhambra at the Sociology
De0artment o' the Cni.ersity o' >arwick" on !o.ember #+
th"
" #$55.
htt0ANNwww#.warwick.ac.ukN'acNsocNsociologyNrswNresearchPcentresNtheoryNcon
'NrsN . A second 0resentation took 0lace at the 5@
th
Annual -on'erence o'
:SA&S <:nternational Society 'or A'rican &hiloso0hy and Studies= at the
Cni.ersity o' Lwaulu,!atal" &ietermaritburg" on A0ril 5@
th
" #$5#.
Bi+lio,ra-&y
Biko" Ste.e <5?%@=. : >rite >hat : Like" with 0ersonal memoir by Al'red
Stubbs" !ew QorkA Dar0er R 7ow.
Dullay" Simmi <6orthcoming. Submitted on 55.55.#$5#= 7e'lection on Be.Bo0
#$5# :n South A'rica and Berlin. :nA Be.Bo0 #$5#. Black Euro0e Body &oliticsA
Testimonials o' an E.ent. Dossier realied by Alanna Lockward. &re0ared 'or
:DEA arts + society by 8.idiu Tichindeleanu. -lu1,!a0oca" 7umania.
htt0ANNidea.roNre.istaNK9SenNcolo0hon
Dolmes" 7achel <#$$%=. The Dottentot *enus. The Li'e and Death o' Saart1ie
BaartmanA Born 5%@? T Buried #$$#. UohannesburgA Uonathan Ball.
Lockward" Alanna <6orthcoming. Submitted on #?.5$.#$5#=. Black Euro0e
Body &olitics. Towards an A'ro0ean Decolonial Aesthetics. :nA Decolonial
Aesthetics Dossier. Mignolo" >alter and *V9ue" 7olando <Eds.=. Social
Te/t Uournal" &erisco0e. htt0ANNwww.socialte/t1ournal.orgN0erisco0eN
Lorde" Audre 5?@(A Age" 7ace" -lass and Se/A >omen 7ede'ining
Di''erence. :nA Sister 8utsider" Los AngelesA 6reedom" &. 55(,5#W.
Mignolo" >alter <#$5#=. Decolonial Aisthesis and 8ther 80tions 7elated to
Aesthetics. :nA BE.B8& #$5#. Black Euro0e Body &olitics. Lockward" Alanna"
Mignolo" >. <Eds.= BerlinA Ballhaus
!aunynstrasse.htt0ANNblackeuro0ebody0olitics.word0ress.comNcatalogueN
Taiwo" 8lu'emi <5??%=. E/orcising Degel)s 3hostA A'rica)s -hallenge to
&hiloso0hy. A'rican Studies Xuarterly. :ssue ( <7eligion and &hiloso0hy in
A'rica=. htt0ANNwww.a'rica.u'l.eduNas9N.5N(N#.htm
>illis" Deborah <Ed.= <#$5$=. The Black *enus #$5$. They called her
2Dottentot4. &hiladel0hiaA Tem0le Cni.ersity &ress"
9
Alanna Lockward + Simmi Dullay
artlabour@yahoo.com + sdullay@gmail.com
T&( Au)&or*
Alanna Lockward is an author and curator based in Berlin. She is the
'ounding director o' Art Labour Archi.es <5??B" Santo Domingo" Dominican
7e0ublic= an e/ce0tional 0lat'orm that has s0iraled around the amalgamation
o' theory" 0olitical acti.ism and aesthetics. She has been awarded by the
Danish Arts -ouncil" the !ordic -ouncil o' Ministers and Allian Lultursti'tung"
among others. Der 0roduction BE.B8& #$5#. BLA-L EC78&E B8DQ
&8L:T:-S was 0resented with o.erwhelming success at Ballahaus
!aunynstrasse. Der book 2A0remio. A0untes sobre el 0ensamiento y la
creaciYn contem0orVnea desde el -aribe4 <&ressure. !otes on Thought and
-ontem0orary -reation 'rom the -aribbean4= was 0ublished in #$$B by
-endeac" in S0ain. Between #$$#,#$$@ her un0recedented curated e/hibition
2&ares R !ones <E.ens and 8dds=. -ontem0orary &hotogra0hy 'rom Daiti
and the Dominican 7e0ublic4 was 0resented in the -aribbean" the A'rican
continent" the CS and Euro0e. Lockward has lectured on critical race theory"
Black 'eminism and decolonial aesthetics at the Dumboldt Cni.ersity"
3oldsmiths Cni.ersity o' London" Cni.ersity o' >arwick" 7oose.elt Academy"
Transart :nstitute and Dutch Art :nstitute and is associated scholar o' the
Qoung Scholars !etwork Black Dias0ora and 3ermany. She graduated at
CAM,Zochimilco" Me/ico -ity" as communication scientist and recei.ed her
M.A. in Art in -onte/t at the Cni.ersity o' the Arts Berlin. She is currently
writing a dissertation on the history o' the AME <A'rican Methodist E0isco0al
-hurch= in the -aribbean and !amibia at the De0artment o' American Studies
at Dumboldt Cni.ersity Berlin.
Simmi Dullay is an inde0endent Tricontinental cultural 0roducer. She
obtained her M6A -um Laude at Durban Cni.ersity o' Technology" in #$5$.
She in.estigates e/ile as a tool 'or 0ersonal and social trans'ormation using a
.ariety o' interdisci0linary methods based on .isual methodologies" Black
consciousness" decoloniation 0ra/is" auto,ethnogra0hy R memory work. Der
research draws 0roducti.ely on art" cultural R gender studies" critical
0hiloso0hy and sociology. She has e/hibited her art work e/tensi.ely in Asia"
Scandina.ia and A'rica. Dullay teaches at the Cni.ersity o' South A'rica
<Cnisa= as Art Distory Lecturer and *isual Arts Lecturer. She has taught on a
.ariety o' sub1ects" 'rom gender to education" social 1ustice and di.ersity as
well as on 0hiloso0hy and sociology in education. She is ad.isor and South
A'rican &ro1ect Manager o' the Transnational Decolonial :nstitute" T.D.:.
htt0ANNtransnationaldecolonialinstitute.word0ress.comNaboutN She is currently a
doctoral candidate at Cnisa.
10