'An unflnching portrayl of European barbarity'
Black Venus
Sat 23 July 2-5pm
BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road SE1
Tube: Waterloo
See trailer here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-D8N5uaePw
The extraordinary true story in which a South African woman was turned into a sideshow attraction known as 'The Hottentot Venus'. Sarah 'Saartjie' Baartman was a Khoi Khoi but was trafficked to Europe in the 19th century where she was exhibited as a part-human, part-animal attraction for both entertainment and 'education' in London and Paris. This critique of the values of 'civilised' society shows how Europeans were obsessed with African womens features and wished to imitate them while at the same time denouncing their looks as ugly and savage