Interview: Gitan Djeli

Interview: Gitan Djeli

What actions do you take to practice anti racism?

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.

Where in the creative curriculum have you or would you consider topics surrounding whiteness or constructions of race?

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 oriental literature.

Have you either experienced or witnessed the effect of microaggressions, and how did you manage it?

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.

What activities already exist that transcend racial inequality?

Classroom acknowledgement of privilege. Prepare 10 questions and make students move ahead at every yes. They will recognise their white privilege immediately - education of parents, private schooling, income, social status, harassment, etc .... to show how much white (but also class - so other brown black chinese kids) students for example are steps ahead and need to be aware of how to break this racial, class, able ism inequality at every level of their life.

How does creative expression combat racial inequality?

Being visible. Produce different art. Promote unapologetically. Find collective spaces.

How does your work relate or explore this topic?

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.