INTERVIEWS: GITAN DJELI. What actions do you take to practice anti racism?
What activities already exist that transcend racial inequality?
Look at the privileges I carry as a middle class able cis brown woman as well as examine the prejudices that came with my upbringing in a very patriarchal racist conservative postcolonial society. Constant self reflection and unlearning as well as learning about the histories that brought such hierarchies of power, dismantle them in everyday practices and voice out the structures that continue to privilege whiteness as a dominant paradigm.
I think to transcend racial inequality, white people have to be made aware that the narrative of ‘We are all equal’ is problematic. I found this classroom activity to explain ‘What Is Privilege?’, inspiring. Prepare 10 questions for students to answer yes or no based on a list of privileges that they already carry (race, gender, socio-economic status, sexuality, ability, etc.. ) that might make them realise how they are more (or less) privileged in life than others.
Where in the creative curriculum have you or would you consider topics surrounding whiteness or constructions of race?
How does creative expression combat racial inequality?
White aesthetics in the visual art/ Whiteness in the Museum structure/ Colonisation and the racialisation of labour/ Coloniality and the perpetuation of racist institutions such as the gallery/ White innocence in literature.
Being visible. Produce different art. Promote unapologetically. Find collective spaces.
Have you either experienced or witnessed the effect of microaggressions, and how did you manage it?
I look at coloniality in the Indian Ocean, consequences of slavery and indenture and the structures and aesthetics (especially) residues of colonisation and highlight decolonial aesthetics in both contemporary arts and other creative practices such as music, poetry and literature.
At every level, from white students, from white professors in academia. Speak up. Make yourself heard. Name the problem loud and clear (with humour if possible) - ‘Are you feeling angry? Do you think it could be masculine fragility?’ or ‘I believe that it’s a very racist comment you made. Could I help you with some history that you might not have been educated with’. Passive aggressive basically.
How does your work relate or explore this topic?
PEEKABOO WE SEE YOU: WHITENESS // 65
