By Daniel Nelson

As OneWorld Events forecast, the Barbican’s presentation, Exhibit B, which was due to open on Tuesday evening (23 September) caused a row – such a row, it turned out, that the whole five-day run has been scrapped.

I was there, at the Vaults near Waterloo station, but I didn’t see it because I decided to hang around with the protesters to see what would happen.

There weren’t many – fewer than 100 – but they maintained a continuous wall of sound, like vuvuzelas at the World Cup in South Africa, mainly from whistles and a drummer.

They were helped by the setting: a long, low largely abandoned, heavily graffitied tunnel, which held the noise and added to the intimidating atmosphere.

The object of their protest was an installation by a South African, Brett Bailey, which “critiques the ‘human zoos’ and ethnographic displays that showed Africans as objects of scientific curiosity through the 19th and early 20th centuries. Translated here into twelve tableaux, each features motionless performers placed in settings drawn from real life. Collectively they confront colonial atrocities committed in Africa, European notions of racial supremacy and the plight of immigrants today. 

“As spectators walk past the exhibits one-by-one, to the sound of lamentations sung live by a Namibian choir, a human gaze is unexpectedly returned.“

The exhibits included a man in a cage and a woman with a slave shackle around her neck.

The Barbican insisted that the aim was not to repeat historical displays but “to subvert a disturbing phenomenon, turning the notion of exotic spectacle on its head.” It's had some exellent reviews.

Did the protesters realise this? I don’t know. But the placards showed that they regarded the show as an insult:

STOP DEGRADING BLACK SKIN

AN EXHIBITION OF WHITE PRIVILEGE

CAGED PEOPLE IS NOT ART – IT IS RACIST

OUR ANCESTORS ARE KINGS AND QUEENS.

The volume increased when audience members ran the gauntlet of the protesters and tried to enter. The demo was not violent (a lone policeman was in evidence, though reinforcements turned up later) but the line between vociferous protest and harassment rapidly becomes blurred and inevitably a throng of demonstrators started pressing the venue’s flimsy doors – which by then had been closed – and a delegation was allowed in.

A short time later one of the rally leaders megaphoned, “We closed the show”. An appreciative roar greeted the announcement, and a few people hugged triumphantly.

“We are coming back tomorrow at 5.30”, she said, as the crowd was urged to leave in an orderly and excitedly victorious manner. A subsequent Barbican statement said:(“Due to the extreme nature of the protest outside the Vaults, regrettably we have cancelled this evening's performance of Exhibit B as we could not guarantee the safety of performers, audiences and staff. We respect people's right to protest but are disappointed that this was not done in a peaceful way as had been previously promised by campaigners.”

By now a line of police blocked one end of the tunnel and half-a-dozen police vehicles were parked at the other end, though the exit was free.

Later it was reported that the Barbican had decided to stop all performances and not just the Tuesday show, had been cancelled. Immediately, the judgements began.

Brett Bailey is a provocateur, as showed by his previous week’s Barbican presentation, a South African version of Verdi’s Macbeth set in the Congo. I have serious doubts about the usefulness of Exhibit B. It’s important to remember what happened to Africans and others in previous times, and the legacy it has left us, but do we need to recreate and subvert it on stage, with live actors? Dubious, I think.

Simon Woolley, coordinator of Operation Black Vote and a former equalities and human rights commissioner, said in an interview with The Guardian that efforts had been made to communicate to the Barbican the strength of feeling. “They underestimated it. They failed to see people’s anger at being exploited in this way. This was a vanity project. Having people objectified in this humiliating way was always going to cause a fierce reaction. It is a shame that it reached this stage but the feeling was that no one was listening.”

Before the protest action, some of the actors reportedly described the piece as “a powerful tool in the fight against racism. Individually, we chose to do this piece because art impacts people on a deeper emotional level that can spark change... We are proud to be black performers in this piece; to represent our history, our present and ourselves by playing the various characters taken from the record books.”

If it’s a choice between freedom of expression and forcing the closure of a play or presentation or exhibition, I choose freedom. That’s why I supported Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti when her play Behzti (Dishonour) was taken off and she was forced into hiding because of threats from Sikhs objecting to a scene showing rape and murder within a gurdwara, or temple. That’s why I supported Salman Rushdie when he was threatened overThe Satanic Verses.

But I admit it’s not always a straightforward choice.

As I walked away from the abandoned production last night, I heard one demonstrator say to another, “Yes, but art for who?”

+  On Wednesday morning, Index on censorship criticised the Barbican for "mishandling of this work... they have failed the artist and the audience. The work is now not going to be shown, so their very vocal support for Exhibit B is totally compromised. And, by being taken by surprise at the hostile response to the work, they have acted defensively, instead of proactively opening up dialogue with black artists and audience at the earliest stage of considering putting on this work. They must now take this opportunity to engage with the 22.5k who signed the petition and lead on a debate, at the highest level, about institutional inequality in the arts in this country."

 Reviews:

'Both unbearable and essential' â˜…★★★★ Guardian Read full review

'Still, reflective, non-histrionic. Modern parallels are drawn and contemporary questions raised. An important and provocative work' Evening Standard â˜…★★★★ Read full review

'A remarkable performance installation. The sorrow-filled atmosphere is made church-like by the sound of a Namibian choir performing traditional songs of lament'★★★★★ Times

'Bailey has found a way to encapsulate all the breathtaking cruelty of the age of colonialism…the effect is devastating' â˜…★★★★ Scotsman 

'A searing damnation of historical and modern-day racism' â˜…★★★★ The List

'It is a stark challenge that anyone should watch this without being shaken up at the sharp, naked reality of horrors imposed on fellow human beings' â˜…★★★★Edinburgh Guide

'Each exhibit is meticulously designed, with a delicate beauty that quickly mutates into horror… the concept of the living sculpture is a powerful one' Daily Telegraph 

'An extraordinary art installation, both performance and exhibition' The Herald 

'Terrible and magnificent' Le Soir (Belgium) 

'This is one of the most uncomfortable pieces of art or theatre you may ever be exposed to' Herald (Australia)

+ All Global Justice events in London

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Image by jessamyn west

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