Black Is Beautiful
The Nieuwe Kerk Museum in Amsterdam has recently opened a novel exhibition Black Is Beautiful which shows how black people have been depicted in the art of the Low Countries over seven centuries. About 135 paintings, illustrated manuscripts, drawings, sketches and etchings, including works by Rubens and Rembrandt, show the history of black people in Dutch art and culture. The bad news is there's some modern tripe as well, but its inclusion is necessary to bring the story up to date. The exhibition continues until October (title link).
posted by Unknown @ 3.8.08
4 comments
4 Comments:
Imagine: you're a white man, and you're walking through dark Africa. Suddenly you see a poster: white people. Inside the building an exhibition is held with portraits of crusaders, English farmers, Dutch kids collecting tulips, and so on. And especially those ‘artists impressions’ of those strange white people with their transparent skin and exotic clothes. Would you find it a meaningful exhibtion? Or would you be offended?
Hi, Sid
Good point. Being objective, I'd probably be fascinated to see how my race had been portrayed by black artists, no matter how weird it was.
Watch out for my Black History page, which I show on my website only in October (Black History Month in the UK). It includes a mediaeval painting of a black trumpeter who worked for Henry VIII.
A lot of white people think that black people were somehow "discovered" at the start of the slave trade and only started arriving in Europe after slavery was abolished. In fact one of the Roman emperors was black. And don't forget Shakespeare's Othello.
So I think this exhibition is making a valid educational point that will probably open a few eyes.
If you visit my Silver Surfer Friendly Awards Page, you'll find a link to an excellent website that traces the history of black people in England.
Hi Sid,
Reverse racism isn't acceptable. It's always so hard for the "ruling powers" to consider the feelings of anyone else.
It's an obvious sign of a hyper-inferiority complex.
Hi, Deluge
Over to you, Sid.
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