OPPOSE THE RACIST HUMAN ZOO EXHIBITION AT THE BARBICAN CENTRE

 HUMAN ZOO IN LONDON THIS SEPTEMBER

The Barbican Centre in London are hosting a horrific  exhibition by  Brett Bailey, Third World, Bun Fight, Exhibit B in September. The exhibition is a human zoo, mimicking the Victorian style human zoo  displaying black people, using actors, as they were oppressed and subjected to racism and abuse in history. It is  highly offensive, insulting and racist.  To our knowledge The Barbican did nothing to engage with black communities in the UK and ask how they felt about the exhibition before agreeing to host it and the exhibition does nothing to promote race equality. 

 

BARAC UK is supporting the campaign opposing the exhibition and has written to The Barbican calling on them to cancel the exhibition, in their response The Barbican states:

'It provokes audiences to reflect on the historical roots of today's prejudices and policies and how these have been shaped over centuries.'

Yet it does nothing to challenge the racism that we experience today or to consider the impact on black communities of hosting the exhibition.

We don't believe that in order to remind people of the horrors of racism, enslavement, apartheid and colonial rule it is necessary to place black people in cages and put them on display in an exhibition and that this exhibition does nothing to promote race equality.  This is not art as is claimed by the curator of the exhibiton Brett Bailey.

Please sign the petition and send complaints to The Barbican.

https://www.change.org/p/barbican-withdraw-the-racist-exhibition-exhibit-b-the-human-zoo-from-showing-at-the-barbican-from-23rd-27th-september