The opening night of a controversial art performance featuring black actors in a recreation of a “human zoo” has been called off after protests.
Exhibit B, staged by The Barbican at The Vaults venue in London, was to have involved actors in chains and cages.
The Barbican said it confronted “the abhorrent historical attitudes to race during the colonial era” but protesters said the work was offensive and racist.
The Vaults issued a statement saying the five-day run had been called off.
The Barbican said Tuesday’s opening night had been cancelled and a further statement would be issued regarding the rest of the run.
‘Extreme’ protest
A Barbican spokesperson said on Tuesday: “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.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were called at 18:34 to reports of a fight at a demonstration in Leake Street, SE1. Officers attended and no arrests were made.”
Speaking to BBC London earlier this month, protest organiser Sara Myers said the exhibition was “the art of offence”.
‘Complicit racism’
At the time of writing, almost 23,000 people had signed her petition calling the show “an outrageous act of complicit racism”.
“We are deeply offended yet not surprised that the colonialism this piece purports to expose does nothing more than reinforce how effective it was and remains as a caging instrument of white supremacists,” the petition said.
Source:: BBC Entertainment
