Kai Barrow’s lecture entitled “Liberating the Imagination: Art and Social Change” on April 11th was extremely interesting. I had already gotten a change to speak with Kai and her partner Shirlette Ammons in another one of my classes, so I was excited to hear more in depth information about Kai’s artistic influences and her own artwork. She said that art for her needs to incorporate three criteria: 1) dialogue which encourages participation, 2) opposition to embrace contradictions, and 3) desire and passion in quest to transform how we see the world. She gave examples of artists that follow each of these categories, although she said that most include all three. I enjoyed when she talked about the Africobra “Wall of Respect” mural because she told a story about how she painted a few strokes of the mural, which furthered the message of a grassroots, community arts mural.
I was mostly excited to hear about her own artworks. Kai discusses her “Hottentot” collection where she interprets and discusses the story of the Venus Hot n Tot or the South African Dancing Queen. She was put on display in Piccadilly Circus and other places in Europe because she has a big bottom and long labia. I really enjoyed the fact that Kai gave herself “poetic license” and tried to look at the story from a different perspective- she was not a victim, she instead felt in control of the men like a dominatrix. I also enjoyed that she talked about agency and how it is messy, so she depicts messy in her paintings by scratching them or splattering paint.
In general, it is easy to tell the Kai Barrow is extremely passionate about art as a tool for social change. I am happy to know that her and Shirlette will be around the campus for the next few weeks and I am looking forward to hearing more about their collaborative visual opera.
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