Zuma has no pants
Jun. 3rd, 2012 09:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nairiporterProblematic portrait of a president
http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2012/s3516748.htm
In South Africa this week, a white man's painting of a black president with his genitals exposed, has caused havoc.
There've been death threats against the artist, calls for a boycott of the newspaper which published a photo of the painting, and the temporary closure of the gallery where it was on display.
...
The president called the portrait racist; the ruling party's general secretary called for a boycott of the newspaper which published a full frontal photo of the portrait, titled the Spear; and death threats were made.
...
As one blogger wrote at the start of this week from neighbouring Zimbabwe: "if you live in a country where to insult the president Robert Mugabe is a criminal offence, you cannot but stand in awe when you wake up one morning to images on the internet of Jacob Zuma, the president from across the Limpopo River, depicted in Lenin's striking heroic pose with his genitals exposed.
Humorous, shocking and offensive, it does precisely what its creator intended to do, it provokes.
Trivial? Distasteful? A crude stereotype of African male sexuality? Culturally chauvinistic? Or just a bad painting. It may be all of those things or none."
But the one thing that the painting has done is expose the deep divisions, mostly hidden within the Rainbow Nation.
http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2012/s3516748.htm
In South Africa this week, a white man's painting of a black president with his genitals exposed, has caused havoc.
There've been death threats against the artist, calls for a boycott of the newspaper which published a photo of the painting, and the temporary closure of the gallery where it was on display.
...
The president called the portrait racist; the ruling party's general secretary called for a boycott of the newspaper which published a full frontal photo of the portrait, titled the Spear; and death threats were made.
...
As one blogger wrote at the start of this week from neighbouring Zimbabwe: "if you live in a country where to insult the president Robert Mugabe is a criminal offence, you cannot but stand in awe when you wake up one morning to images on the internet of Jacob Zuma, the president from across the Limpopo River, depicted in Lenin's striking heroic pose with his genitals exposed.
Humorous, shocking and offensive, it does precisely what its creator intended to do, it provokes.
Trivial? Distasteful? A crude stereotype of African male sexuality? Culturally chauvinistic? Or just a bad painting. It may be all of those things or none."
But the one thing that the painting has done is expose the deep divisions, mostly hidden within the Rainbow Nation.
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(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-03 07:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-03 08:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-04 02:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-04 06:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-04 02:37 am (UTC)wonder how he'd choose to depict our American top?