Whitemess
South Africa/Guatemala
Heather van Niekerk (standing) and Beatriz Herrera (covered in plastic bags) in the grid space of Whitemess
What does it mean to be white? Do our lives depend on the colour of our skin? Do our lives rely on the privilege that comes from segregating the other? This is a collaborative performance in which we explore two contexts: Heather, a white person from Johannesburg; and Beatriz, a “ladina” from Guatemala. “Ladina” is the term that designates a person as white with European descent, separate from indigenous people of Guatemala. In both contexts, we found a shared heritage of violent oppression and denial.
“Whiteness globally is associated with privilege, dominance and oppression. Everywhere, it seems, constructions of whiteness function to maintain the race and class hierarchies that benefit white people” (Van Wyk, 2012: 32)
This performance was conceived from our own perspectives of being the descendants of those that inflicted the trauma on others: Apartheid in South Africa, and genocide in Guatemala. We seek to deconstruct our increasing awareness of growing up in a racist context by using symbolic elements that speak to moments in our lives when our own whiteness was made visible: Heather’s South African flag, national anthem, and Converse All-Stars, painted with the skyline of Johannesburg, indicative of her research into pantsula dance; Beatriz’s reference to the genocide, two contrasting music tracks that relate to indigenous villages and the use of the indigenous skirt. Through this process we aim to create a platform in which notions of race can be made visible for the culturally constructed mess that it is, finishing with the song “Never again”.
“Whiteness, as a global phenomenon, is the power to decide and impose the criterion that humanizes man and woman in the planet.” (González, 2006 p. 120)
This performance fits into a larger curatorial project that aims to make visible the oppressive invisible, and create a platform for conversation around the notion of race. It consists of empowering people to tell their own stories about racism. By conducting workshops, we want to widen the conversation about whiteness and segregation, allowing the participants to relate to their personal experiences –as we did in creating this performance- in order to find creative expressions in a form that is suited to the individuals. With the contributions of willing participants, we aim to create an exhibition that would engage audiences with a variety of voices from various backgrounds engaging in these issues. The place for such an activity would be museums related to oppression and segregation, such as the International Slavery Museum.
Van Wyk, S. (2012) Ballet Blanc to Ballet Black: Performing Whiteness in Post-Apartheid South African Dance. In: Friedman, S. (ed.) Post-apartheid Dance: Many Bodies, Many Voices, Many Stories. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 31-50
González, J. (2006). La visible invisibilidad de la blancura y el ladino como no blanco en Guatemala. In Euraque, D., Gould, J., and Hale C (eds.) Memorias de Mestizaje: Cultura política en Centroamérica de 1920 al presente. Guatemala: Centro de Investigaciones Regionales de Mesoamérica pp. 111-132.