A while ago I went to see the Art Deco show at the V&A. It was a great show, although I wish there would have been some more architecture (which is what I really like from that period). They had some fantastic stuff, like the entrance to the Strand Palace Hotel, an amazing Elsa Schiaparelli-coat and some groovy crockery. What I really found interesting, though, was a reel of film featuring Josephine Baker. Now, when I was a child in Denmark, I was always taught that she was a wonderful dancer and entertainer, famous for her beauty and her bananaskirt, but I had never seen her 'in action'. Well, beautiful she was, long and slender. But the dance that she did and the facial expressions she used, made me more sad than excited. Here is this wonderfully animated woman, who has to resolve to crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out so that the white audience will accept her. People thought her the height of eroticism when she wiggled her bum. Apprently Erich Maria Remarque said that she "brought a whiff of jungle air and an elemental strength and beauty to the tired showplace of western civilisation". However, Baker was born and brought up in St. Louis, hardly a savage jungle. What is also interesting is that 'in France she lived in a chateau in the Dordogne; in the US she was refused a hotel room because she was black.' (Quotes by Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian) In France she gained fame and fortune, but was she also accepted on the same level as white performers or was she seen as an exotic 'other'? People loved to see her perform and would worship her celebrity, but would they invite her to their houses for dinner? It seems that there were a great distinction between her reception in USA and on the continent and if only I wasn't so busy, I would investigate a bit further.For anyone interested in the exploitation of black people I would strongly recommend 'Invisible Man' by Ralph Ellison.

That particular evening the V&A also had a fashion-show by Eley Kishimoto, so we caught that as well. The fashion was, well, neither fantastic nor appaling. Many members of the audience looked more interesting than the show, which I guess is a bit problematic. It was okay, though, and the clothes worth checking out, and if I could I would post some photos. But I can't. So there. Sorry.

posted by charlotte at 15:16 - comment