In the 1990s, Coco Fusco and her collaborator, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, staged a series of performances

In the 1990s, Coco Fusco and her collaborator, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, staged a series of performances in which the artists purported to be natives of a previously unknown island. Exhibited in a cage surrounded by faux-educational signage, they enacted an “authentic” culture that was actually a mash-up of “primitive” and urban stereotypes, contemporary technology, and a made-up language.These etchings from about 20 years later evoke nineteenth-century anthropological illustrations and document troubling responses audience members had to the performances. By presenting this work in museums, parks, and plazas, the artists pointedly engaged the long colonial history of displaying humans from non-Western cultures in these spaces. Many viewers affirmed the persistence of colonialist, racist, and sexist expectations as they reacted to this contrived premise. Posted by Allie RickardCoco Fusco (American, b. June 18, 1960) The Undiscovered Amerindians; How Can the Museum Justify Such Deception?, 2012. Intaglio on paper, 18.3 x 21 in (46.48h x 53.34w cm), Edition of 8 with 1 AP. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York © 2016 Coco Fusco/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York #agitpropbkm -- source link

More pics about