they called her 'Hottentot'
- Categories
- Book/Boek
- Creator
- Willis, Deborah > [ed]
- Contributor
- Cobb, William Jelani
- Publish Year
- 2010
- Shelfmark
- WER 1A 2010
- Thesaurus
- zwarte vrouwen, vrouwbeelden, kunsten, racisme, etniciteit, 18e eeuw, 19e eeuw, 20e eeuw, bundel
- Description
- Her name was Sarah Baartman. Born in South Africa in 1789, she died in Paris in 1815—after five years of being displayed (sometimes in a cage) for entertainment and scientific study: her pickled buttocks and genitalia remained on public display at the Musée de l'Homme until 1974 and her remains were finally returned to South Africa in 2002. During her period of fame and exploitation, she was known as the Hottentot Venus. Willis offers an anthology that embraces scholarly and lyrical, historical and reflexive responses to Baartman, as a woman, as a black woman, as an object, as an icon, as an inspiration to creative artists, and as a catalyst to scholars. The book moves from Baartman's life and times to an assessment of the figure of the Hottentot Venus in contemporary art and a broader consideration of the historic public display of black women.