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Another Arena
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| Entering the stadium, we become
enmeshed in the spectacle, engaged in dialogues about contests of territory
and definitions of national identity. Here, these dialogues are interpreted
through the metaphor of sport and the inscription of the body of the black
athlete as a vehicle for national aspirations.
Through a reworking of The Nations Finest (1991), Piper suggests that the sports stadium is an arena of both enfranchisement and enclosure. Within this arena, acknowledgement of the black sports-person's athletic prowess is tainted by the belief that this power lies in an innate genetic order. Speed and strength are perceived as God-given gifts rather than skills cultivated through the intense discipline of rigorous training. The artist is suggesting that black athletes may temporarily come to symbolise the hopes and desires of the nation and may momentarily be worshipped as national heroes. However, this bestowal of acclaim is constrained by a sense of fascination with the black body, reverberating with echoes of the 'exotic', which still insist on rendering it as 'other'. Rohini Malik InIVA |
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An installation with two large-scale video projections. |
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Image size 691 x 463 74K |
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