Sara Baartman

Sara’s Story, the title of my ongoing project refers to Sara Baartman, one of the Hottentots Venus', a slave woman who was displayed with her genitals and bottom exposed in 1810 around London and Paris. After her death in 1816, Sara's remains were obtained from local police by George Cuvier, a prominent naturalist. Cuvier dissected and made a plaster cast of Sara’s body, pickled her brain and genitals and placed them into jars that were on display at the Musee de L'Homme in Paris until 1974.

This is not merely a cautionary tale, the objectification and sexualisation of the Black female body continues, and whilst we are only given two options: to play the role of the sassy best friend or the hyper-sexual and damaged Lady in Red, our bodies are not our own to govern. Like Sara, even in death we do not control the images projected on us.