Listen to Chimamanda Adichie

This talk by writer Chimamanda Adichie was shared by the writer Annelies Verbeke at her book launch in november. Given the theme and the wonderfulness of the speech, I just have to pass it on to you. Enjoy!   read more…

Saartjie Baartman – “La Vénus Noire”

Saartjie Baartman was a Southafrican San or Hottentot. She was displayed at London and Paris freakshows, from 1810 to 1815. Five years after her arrival, she died. The famous anthropologist, director of the Musée de l’Homme Georges Cuvier was very quick to claim her corpse. He took great care putting her brains, genitals and buttocks in jars with formalin, but he did not care to find out what caused her death. This way, he finally got a hold on her genitals, which she refused to show during her lifetime. read more…

The N***** is in the Shrank

On the 2nd of october 1997 De Volkskrant and De Morgen featured an article, “The N***** is in the Shrank”. It was about a San, stolen from his grave by taxidermists in 1832, stuffed and shipped from Africa to Europe with a load of animals. He had been exhibited in Paris and was now on display at the museum Darder in Banyoles near Barcelona. A Haïtian doctor saw him in 1992 and alarmed the international community. read more…