#hottentot venus

[malaisequotes]

“Everything beautiful, you own.”

Hottentot Venus by Morgan Parker

[tenth-sentence]

The inquiry accepted the claim that Baartman was free, was working as she chose and would be paid half of the profits of her exhibition.

"Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History" - Philippa Gregory

[robinlynnemabin]

Sarah Baartman was Khoisan sold into Slavery and exploited in European sideshows; Some Hip Hop Artists are doing the same thing today; Dinknesh (Lucy) 3.2 million years old, Free Masonry and Ancient Kemet (Egypt), Bastet from Kemet (Egypt) inspired the Panther Deity 'Bast' in 'Black Panther'; Auset/Isis, The Black Madonna & Child was worshiped in Europe - Michael Imhotep (Next Class is Sat. 8-15-23, 2pm EST - Register Now)   REGISTER NOW: Next Class Starts Sat. 8-12-23, 2pm EST, ‘Ancient Kemet (Egypt), The Moors & The Maafa: Understanding The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. REGISTER NOW & WATCH!!! (LIVE 12 Week Online Course) with Michael Imhotep host of The African History Network Show. Discounted Registration $80; ALL LIVE SESSIONS WILL BE RECORDED SO YOU CAN WATCH AT ANY TIME! WATCH CONTENT ON DEMAND! REGISTER for Full Course HERE $80: https://theahn.learnworlds.com/course/ancient-kemet-moors-maafa-transatlantic-slave-trade-summer-2023 orhttps://theafricanhistorynetwork.com/   

[queerbaobab]

Saartjie, Chantal and I

Hair held down by a red cloth Sweat beading on her forehead Eyes filling up with light and tears Nostrils flaring Words and sounds spilling over her lips Dripping down her chin Encircling her neck And draping her shoulders Arms held high, strong Hands flowing through the air, unhindered Breasts, alive, engorged Covering a pumping heart ready to burst Skin expanding and contracting over the drum…

[women-throughout-history]

Sarah Baartman

Sarah Baartman's tragic story is a heartbreaking narrative of exploitation, racism, and the dehumanisation of an African woman in the early 19th century. Born in South Africa's Eastern Cape in 1789, Baartman faced a life marked by hardship and loss. Orphaned at a young age, she entered domestic service in Cape Town after her partner was murdered, and their child died.

In 1810, under questionable circumstances, Baartman signed a contract with British ship surgeon William Dunlop and entrepreneur Hendrik Cesars, agreeing to travel to England to participate in shows. Her distinctive physical features, characterised by extremely protuberant buttocks due to steatopygia, made her a spectacle in London's Piccadilly Circus, where she was exhibited in skin-tight, flesh-coloured clothing adorned with beads and feathers. The fascination with her large buttocks reflected the prevailing fashion of the time, but Baartman's public display in so-called "freak shows" also highlighted the darker undercurrents of racism and colonial exploitation.

Baartman faced a tumultuous life in Europe, performing on stage, enduring private demonstrations, and facing questions about whether she willingly participated or was coerced. The British Empire had abolished the slave trade in 1807, but Baartman's treatment raised ethical concerns, leading to a court case against her employers, although they were not convicted.

Moving to Paris in 1814, Baartman continued her exhibitions under the nickname "Hottentot Venus." She faced further exploitation, possibly engaging in prostitution, and ultimately succumbed to illness, dying at the age of 26 in 1815. The postmortem exploitation continued as Georges Cuvier, a naturalist, dissected her body, preserving her skeleton, brain, and genitals. These remains were exhibited in Paris's Museum of Man until 1974, a grotesque testament to the objectification of Baartman.

The journey of Sarah Baartman's remains back to her homeland was a protracted one. Finally, in 2002, after years of advocacy and efforts, her skeleton, brain, and genitals were repatriated and laid to rest in the Gamtoos River Valley, where she was born. Baartman's story remains a symbol of the intersection of racism, sexism, slavery, and colonialism, prompting debates and discussions about the historical exploitation and the ongoing fight against injustice.

[cliozaur]

It’s hard to follow Hugo’s train of thought here. He begins by discussing the lack of education in the gamin, shifts to praising "light" (education), and then abruptly makes a big leap forward by stating, "The gamin expresses Paris, and Paris expresses the world"!

And I would like to venture an opinion on this section about Paris as a microcosm. I can actually see how it connects to education. In all its complexity and incomprehensiveness for contemporary readers, it is a product of nineteenth-century education heavily focused on classics, French literature, history and some knowledge about wider world (predominantly the “Oriental” realm). It’s incredible how narrowly specialized you must be today to fully grasp all the references without the need for research. (And I wonder if all the readers during Hugo’s time could easily understand all of them.) Yes, once you get them, some of the references may sound clever and amusing (mostly clever), but they absolutely lack warmth. And as far as I understand, Hugo intended to convey his boundless love for Paris in this chapter. But in the end, this is such a strange… intellectual, erudite kind of love. There were many previous chapters in which he was able to express his affection through humane and warm imagery and references. Yet here he chose this highbrow mocking style instead.

The paragraph that states “Paris is amiable. It accepts everything royally” is somewhat closer to what I would expect from the love letter to a beloved city. But then we have a triggering mention of the “Hottentot Venus” and the magic is gone.

[hakkiest]

sometimes my brain like grasps onto a topic n goes corgi on lettuce abt it and its fun its fun but why are there 23 sources on my google docs abt the hottentot venus

[creativefya]

The Gazing Artwork of Renee Cox

In chapter 3 Amelia Jones of “Seeing Differently : A history and theory of identification and the visual arts", explores fetishism in relation to the “gaze” of visual culture. The relationship between "identification” and “identity” is witnessed in the early 1990’s - early 2000’s by African-American artist Renee Cox with her series of images “exposing the interrelation between sexual and racial fetishim” (Jones, 95). 

Photographer and mixed media artist Renee Cox creates visual representations of strong black women. She simply is not interested in portraying black people as victims. Cox creates art that she coins as “another universe”. A universe of peace and self consciousness.(ReneeCox.org)  She uses black people and herself as the center of her photography. These avatars—historic characters, fierce mothers, cosmopolitan socialites, and Afro-centric superheroes—are imbued with sexual agency and resolute confidence.(Aperture.org) 

Her 1995 artwork  “Venus Hottentot” is a self portrait that “directly exposes a specific historical case of racial fetishism.”(Jones, 96)  Cox is creating a revolution with her own propaganda. Cox’s prolific photography is dominated by iconography. Her style is glaring as you are captivated by the gaze. She is looking back at the viewer looking at her. In “Venus Hottentot”, Cox uses props to exaggerate her sexual and racial “difference” while confronting the viewer with a direct stare into the camera. (Jones,96) Her presence is historical and controversial as a deliberate “in-your-face gesture”. (Jones,95) The deliberate correlation of her artwork in comparison to the brutal objectification of Sarah Baartman of the 1800s, “when people in London were able to pay two shillings apiece to gaze upon Baartman’s body in wonder. For extra pay, one could even poke her with a stick or finger.” (Eleksie.com) Cox’s deliberate “adoption of fetishism is strategic”. (Jones,98) Cox critiques roles for and the images of black women in history and contemporary visual culture with her photographic media by “projecting and freezing sexual and racial anxieties” of the fetishized glaze. (Jones,98)

REFERENCES

Amazon.com: Seeing Differently: A History and Theory of Identification and the Visual Arts

Renée Cox: A Taste of Power

Still in The Eve of Women; Sarah Baartman influence on women and fashion - Eleksie Noir

by : Andria Jones

Representing Women - UNCG -Fall 23

[songder-bot]

Paris is a good soul. It accepts everything royally; it is lenient in the realm of Venus; its Callipyge is Hottentot; as long as it laughs, it pardons.

[lboogie1906]

Barbara Chase-Riboud (June 26, 1939) was born in Philadelphia to Charles and Vivian Chase and is known for her controversial novel Sally Hemings, poetry, and sculptures, including the Malcolm X Steles. Her artistic talent in drawing and sculpting was discovered at an early age. She earned her BFA from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. She received a prestigious fellowship to study at the American Academy in Rome. She received her MFA from Yale University, where she studied Design and Architecture.

She moved to Paris, where she established a studio and married photographer Marc Riboud (1961). They had two sons and traveled together across the world. She was the first American woman to visit China during the Cultural Revolution. She published a book of poems called From Memphis to Peking. She published Sally Hemings. She won the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize.

She divorced her husband and married Sergio T. Tosi, a scholar and art dealer (1981). Her second book of poems, Portrait of a Nude Woman as Cleopatra was published. She won the Carl Sandburg prize, and she published Echo of Lions, about the Amistad slave revolt. She sued director Steven Spielberg for using her story without her permission in Amistad.

She published President’s Daughter, a sequel to Sally Hemings. She received a Knighthood in Arts and Letters from the French government, and she was awarded the Design Award for best art in a federal building. She created an 18-foot sculpture inside the US Federal Building, after the discovery of an eighteenth-century African American burial site under the building.

She published Valide: A Novel of the Harem and released her novel Hottentot Venus. She won the Black Caucus of the American Library Association for Best Fiction Award and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. She won the Alain Locke International Award for her writing. The Philadelphia Museum of Art opened an exhibition that featured some of her abstract sculptures from her series on Malcolm X, the Malcolm X Steles. She released her latest poetry book called Everytime a Knot is Undone, a God is Released. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[malaisequotes]

“I am here to show you who you are, to cradle your large skulls and remind you you are perfect.”

Hottentot Venus by Morgan Parker

[leanstooneside]

Poetry in Motion

• MR MACADAM'S

• ANDREW

• IRVING

• LADY FLOOD

• ROHAN

• LOUIS

• REVEREND SORNER

• J. BUNSEN

• NIORT ; HENRI FRANCOIS

• COLONEL TIMMS

• THOM

• JOHN LOUDOUN MACADAM

• ADDISON

• KENT

• MR DUNLOP

• CHRISTIAN YEAR

• MR MACADAM

• TO GRANT

• MARQUISE

• MR ANDREWS

• MR CROKER

• GALE

• WILLIAM PITT

• ROMAN EMPEROR

• JOHNSON

• HOTTENTOT VENUS

• REARADMIRAL BEAUMONT

• VICTOR COUSIN

• CHEVALIER

• FRANCHISE

• THOMAS

• JOHN/ LOUDOUN

• REV. LANGTON

• NICHOLAS UVEDALE

• GRANT

• MR PIGOU'S

• ROBERT LOWTH

• WILLIAM

• JONATHAN THATCHER

• CHARLES BULLER

• MR J. W. CROKER

• LORD LYTTELTON

• FIRST KING

• POPE GREGORY III

• ANGEL

• DOWAGER LADY LYTTELTON'S

• KING EDWARD

• MR ANDREWS'S

• ED

• JOHN

• EDWARD PLANTAGENET

• SIR CLOUDESLEY

• VENUS

• SCOTT'S LETTERS

• MR BULLOCK

• JOHN LOUDOUN

• MR MILES PETER ANDREWS

• CAPTAIN GEORGE WILLIAM MANBY

• PARIS; MAURICE

• HORACE

• JAMES

• MR TOPHAM

• DR JOHNSON

• JOHN ELWES

• POWELL

[rebeleden]

Watch "How the "HOTTENTOT VENUS" Looked in Real Life | Sarah Baartman- Mortal Faces" on YouTube

[rausule]

Om D. Brand te onthou, geestig ironies (Afrika, musiek en skoubedryf, 1967); O. Mtshali (n. 1940), wat in sy ratse en skerp verse die Zoeloe-tradisie (Die geboorte van Shaka) tot die bevrydingsbeweging herwin, en die plekke waar die swartes hul bloed vergiet het, ophef as embleme van die onmoontlikheid om hul stem te versmoor (Carletonville, 1974); P. Horn −Stemme uit die Galgboom (1968) en Walking through our sleep (1974) − wat die onpoëtiese aard van apartheid onderstreep. Die publikasie van die bundel Sounds of a Cowhide drum (1971), deur Mtshali, van Yakhal Inkomo (1972) deur M. Serote (n. 1944) en van sommige bloemlesings (Dorp dit kan aangaan, 1973; Swart stemme skree!, 1974 , verban), is 'n duidelike teken van die ontluikende belangstelling van publikasie vir die poëtiese blom wat hierdie jare kenmerk.

Die tragiese ANC lomp beplanning gebeure van 1976 lui 'n drastiese verandering vir digters in. Soos M. Gwala (geb. 1946) skryf, word hoop nou versterk deur die trane van Soweto, wat 'n simbool en metafoor word van die mees radikale betrokkenheid by politieke optrede, wat ook in 'n meer omgangstaal gevind kan word, nader aan die gesproke taal, meer gerig op lees in die openbaar. Die lyn tussen poësie en propaganda word besonder dun, maar in die 1980's en 1990's was daar geen tekort aan werke (Jol'iinkomo, 1977, en No more lullabies, 1982, deur Gwala; Fireflames, 1980, deur Mtshali) en skrywers, nie slegs swartes, waarin 'n natuurlike en diepgaande sin vir kuns die oorhand het oor 'n toegewyde en doelbewus funksionele estetika, gerig op die oorwinning van "die slagoffer-sindroom" en ingelig deur swart bewussyn: S. Sepamia (n. 1932), skrywer van I onthou Shaperville (1976), neig met sy gedigte (Die Blues is jy in my, 1976; Die Soweto ek is lief vir, 1977; Kinders van die aarde, 1983) om die kontingente politieke dringendhede te transendeer en te besin oor skynheiligheid en die sin. van skuldgevoelens waardeur blankes aangegryp word (Nibbling, 1974); M. Mbuli; M. Langa; N.S. Ndebele (geb. 1948), een van die belangrikste vertellers, kritici en digters; K. Kgositsile, ondersteuner van estetiese waardes van poësie; E. Patel (geb. 1943), oorspronklike eksperimenteerder van vorms en meters (Die koeël en die brons dame, 1987). ’n Fassinerende aspek van meer onlangse poësie is die ontstaan ​​van stemme wat toenemend ononderskeibaar is op grond van velkleur. Dit is die geval van wit digters soos B. Breytenbach (geb. 1939), wat in 1975 weens terrorisme gearresteer en tot nege jaar gevonnis is (En dood wit as woorde, 1978; Judasoog, 1988); S. Grey (geb. 1941), een van die mees akute kontemporêre kritici, met die bundels Hottentot Venus en ander gedigte (1979), Apollo Café en ander gedigte (1989) en Seisoen van geweld (1992); J. Couzyin (geb. 1942), Kersfees in Afrika (1975) en Lewe deur verdrinking ( (1983); J. Cronin (geb. 1949), wat met 'n lang en harde gevangenisstraf vir sy politieke verbintenis betaal het, wat die bundel Inside (1984) geïnspireer het; C. van Wyk (geb. 1957), skrywer van van die bekendste protesgedigte (Oor graffiti).

Dr Brant DeBeer

[kill-ompie]

hottentot venus

[rachelarobinson]

Reading & Response #4

For the first reading, what I read was stuff that I mainly already knew about but it was interesting still to read examples of Futurist and Dada movements that I hadn’t known about previously . One of my favorite concepts from these movements is how performance art challenges contemporary art, the most elite art at the time, being paintings and statues. It’s always so fascinating to me to see such unfamiliar art being performed to challenge the basic criteria of what is art and how it’s evaluated and to see more and more things to be considered art rather than that standard at the time. As stated in the reading, this kind of art is against the establishment, the commercialization of art, and the strict confinement of museums and galleries. And states right after similarly, performance art acts against the belief of art being limited to the production of art objects. And with performance art, there’s so much more depth to it than simply sitting a critiquing art and it being so limited to aesthetics rather than taking into consideration a lot more. I always love seeing performance art that is normally unsettling or just a lot different than what people are used to because that’s what makes it so special and different. For example, “How To Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare” by Joseph Beuys made me so uncomfortable to watch but it’s honestly a time of art that is so amazing to see even if it’s a guy talking to a freshly dead hare which is very unsettling. This is off topic but when watching that video in my class I felt physically uncomfortable but for some reason it’s interesting to see to me, not in a way where I’m comfortable with dead animals or anything like that but to me the weirder and more unsettling an art piece is, the better. I like the controversial stuff and the art that challenges so many things (to an extent of course) and that’s exactly what performance art is.

One thing I found interesting in this second ready was first off the numerous examples of people from Africa, Asia, and the Americas being brought to Europe for aesthetic contemplation, scientific analysis, and entertainment. I had known about previous examples of this before like these various groups of people being exhibited in theaters, zoos, circuses, and world fairs but I wasn’t aware of how many times these things have actually happened until reading the list of examples given. For example, I had no idea about Wampanoag Chief Metacom’s head being put on public display for 25 years in Massachusetts after being executed for fomenting indigenous rebellion which to me is insane that for 25 years this was able to slide. And the examples just keep going and going and it’s so shocking to see how bad they all are and I never thought of these things to be examples of sort of “performance art” and as intercultural performance. But looking at it through the eyes of the oppressor it was entertainment to them which to me is absurd but to them by putting these numerous groups of people through these situations it was for performance, even without these people’s consent. It’s also so crazy to me to see as well the fetishization of these cultures and different aspects of them and a sort of appropriation that could even still be seen to this day. I do agree with the points made though that the human exhibitions dramatized the colonial unconscious of American society and that by justifying genocide, enslavement, and the seizing of lands, there is a splitting of humanity along racial lines. Through this the fetishization of representations of the Otherness is naturalized. And as I mentioned before, these things are still seen to this day and it absolutely shocked me to read about how things like the dissected genitals of the Hottentot Venus and different Native American remains are still displayed in public museums. And I feel like there’s a fine line of educating people and things just being a separation still of the Otherness but as mentioned in the reading, with the desire to look from a safe distance. That’s one of the biggest things I took from the reading and it was very interesting to see the process and analysis behind the performance “Two Undiscovered Amerindians Visit Madrid” and to read about the different reactions to this performance but it was so powerful to me and I would’ve loved to see in person. I loved how Coco Fusco and Guillermo Gómez-Peña brought their history of the people of Guatinau into this and how they would be put in cages on display for horrific entertainment purposes.