Thursday, August 7, 2008

The Saartjie Project




The Saartjie Project is a collective of serious artists and activists that are placing a necessary focus upon the life and legacy of Saartjie (Sara) Bartman, who is also known as Venus Hottentot.
If you're familiar with Venus Hottentot's tragic story, you know that European fascination with her natural curves led to her remains being bottled upon display after her death, with nothing less than similarly oppressive poking, prodding and disenfranchisement of Saartjie while she lived.

The continuing fascination with the black female form, has led to the objectification of sisters the world over, most notably in this era in the arena of Commercialized HipHop, which began to divorce its roots in community empowerment and clever lyricism, when supermoguls like Puffy Combs set the example for those to come on how to oversaturate the airwaves with payola radio hits that focused on themes of getting money, managing 'hoes' and similar.
Through Saartjie's story the The Saartjie Project is investigating the politics surrounding the Black female body on stage. They deserve our applause and attention.

They will be at the DC Arts center 8/22 & 8/23. Find more details through the links below.



Visit the blog for the Saartjie Project:
http://www.thesaartjieproject.org

or visit their Ning

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