Roshini Kempadoo discusses key debates around identity politics as seen through Iniva’s Archives with Karen Alexander, Nina Mangalanayagam and Ashwani Sharma. (iniva event, panel discussion)

Audience Review

Iniva’s panel discussion ‘Then and Now: the changing context of debate’ was an interesting title. Photographer and researcher Roshini Kempadoo, curator Karen Alexander, newly graduated artist, Nina Mangalanayagam, researcher Ashwani Sharma sat together to discuss identity politics, Iniva’s archival culture and artistic exploration of cultural shift.

Nina is a handsome looking young artist, who explored her Swedish and South Asian identities. She described how her Tamil father emigrated to Sweden and became more Swedish than a real Swede in order to fit into that society as an immigrant. Her mother is from Denmark, and she grew up in Sweden. Later she said she was ‘only’ educated in the UK. She said that she is often invited to curated exhibitions themed around South Asian representation, but not invited to Swedish art shows. She seems to making the point that people are seeing her as ‘Asian’ but not perceiving her Europeanness. She wonders what her real ‘identity’ is.

In the photographic series, ‘Homeland’ (2008), she photographed herself and her father in different places, next to a Christmas tree, in a breakfast cafe etc. It seemed to me that the artwork was fairly naive, and I would expect to see it in a BA show. She might have been misunderstood as a South Asian woman, from the perspective of Westerners. The impression I got from her manners and speech, was that she perhaps seems a more intriguing person due to her exotic look and charm. If she was embedded within Asian-ness by family or by culture, her argument and exploration might have different echoes. Perhaps I am making a too-harsh judgement call; the fact remains that she made an issue of her appearance in her work, and therefore her appearance and cultural grounding will always be issue in responding to it.

Her single channel video, Lacuna (2009) shows her trials and failures (on her terms) in imitating the South Asian gesture of shaking the head. The ‘head bobble’ refers to a common gesture in South Asian culture, mostly in India. It is a nonverbal communication of ‘yes’ and ‘no’, or greetings, and many other interpretations. In the video piece, her tilting of her head continues; there are sub-titles of her childhood and small stories. The message is neither clear nor interesting, but the form triggers a question: Does Mangalanayagam want to deny her identity in some way, or reject herself by wobbling her head. I understand she finds her subject in her mixed blood, but I don’t find her ethnicity to be troubled in her everyday life and social identification.

Karen’s message was simple. There are not enough black people involved in curation in high art institutions. She placed her students head-shots on the screen, making a point that her course at the Royal College of Art tries to balance this issue with an ethnically mixed student group, yet there were more girls than boys. Karen also maeks the point that men are over-represented in senior positions. It would have been much more interesting if she actually demonstrated some curatorial approaches, to show how the representation of colour can diversify the current framework of and framings for art, and why it is important to have a racial balance in the industry. I feel much the same, that there are more Caucasians than other ethnicities in art institutions, among art lovers and buyers. Is this unbalance in ethnicity in the art world a racial problem? Or a class problem?

Ashwani’s presentation was the most interesting. He actually brought some written material to make his points, and started from the idea of New Internationalism and why this is simply a different name for multiculturalism. Let me re-quote:

We shall begin, therefore, with ‘naming’ in order to ‘un-name’, in order to forestall commodification! To say at the outset, with Geeta Kapur, that “a ‘new internationalism’ is not a matter of consensus – the term should be dismantled”. Internationalism itself has never been a matter of consensus.

He lays out the idea that raising racism as a concern is ultimately over. This is not because racism is no longer existing; it is more of the matter that it is not allowed to highlight this issue by name. This reminded me of personal experience from a year or so ago, in which I wanted to report a racist business owner in my neighbourhood to the online community; and I was told that it is not allowed to use the word ‘racist’ on the website. My experience was horrific as it was; there were no other interpretation than ‘racist’ for that experience, but reviewing the local business using this term was simply ‘too far’. ‘Racist’ is considered foul language, but ‘being racist’ is still allowed.

In neo-liberalism, and new internationalism, there is a new urgency forced by the global crisis in economics. Talking about the ideology of globalism is sometimes undermined by a claim it ignores the ‘real (economic) issue’, but does a market determine what is ethical or not? Even what is urgent or not? Ash pointed out that whole cultural sectors and art institutions are under real threat because of this failure from the market; he aimed to draw attention to the idea that art institutions and culture need to focus on local matters. The discussion was too tightly wrapped up to bring up more examples of his points; these would have unfolded a more interesting final discussion.

The audience room was full, the usual mix of East Londoners. They are there because it’s their ‘place’ to live, and they are ‘already’ embedded in a non-white culture, and they understand the importance of this debate. We live in a city where what is ‘happening’ is not in the gallery or institution but on the street; I doubt that being in the institution, in high authority should be our (workers in the arts in any form) priority, but instead should be making another route out from our current existing pool, and making it work.

* More Readings

• Jean Fisher ‘Golbal Visions’ Editor’s note
• Global Art and Politics of Mobility: (Trans) Cultural Shifts in the international contemporary art-system by Joaquín Barriendos Rodrígue
• New Internationalism Podcast from Frieze Art Fair
• dark matter in the ruins of imperial culture, an international peer-reviewed journal

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