Leh We Talk

Title
Leh We Talk
Real Conversations on Race
and Class in Barbados

Year
2020

Medium:
A series of conversations among strangers across race and class

Dimensions:
N/A

Credits:
-

Collector:
Collection of artist

While these more recent conversations in Barbados have undoubtedly been provoked by the Black Lives Matter movement in the USA and George Floyd’s murder, I thought that we needed to address the nuances of our particular situation and our history. I don’t imagine we’ll ever have a moment like this again and wanted to harness this heightened interest in and openness to discuss race and class. I felt moved to write a post on my Facebook page called On race and whiteness from the context of Barbados #1. 

I then developed Leh We Talk | Real Conversations on Race and Class in Barbados (LWT) as one platform to discuss race and class in our own unique context on this island which suffers from social apartheid. (I noticed the tribal electoral boundaries on a map outlining the 2020 Trinidad and Tobago general elections results–we all have so much work to do.) LWT expands on my 2015 discursive project, White Creole Conversations, a suite of 24 exchanges between me and one other person about the experience of whiteness in the context of the Caribbean. 

LWT is a form of research informing new work for the 5th Casablanca Biennale about issues of race and class. I had the pleasure of collaborating with Barbadian, Janelle Headley, the director of Operation Triple Threat (OTT), a Barbadian theatre company where this inaugural discursive art project kicked off on Saturday, July 18.

A group of about 40 Bajans gathered according to COVID protocols at OTT. On arrival, participants were paired with partners of a different race and they engaged in intimate conversations, seated 3’ apart, prompted by a menu of questions such as–When was the first time you were aware of your race/class or sensed you were different from others because of race/class? How have the forces of race, racism, class, and classism shaped your life?

This happened over two 45-minute sessions followed by a group debate. I see LWT as an experiment in conversation as an art form itself making us more curious and open and to ultimately foster human connection. It is designed for participants to speak about themselves while learning how to listen to others of a different race through questions focussed on race, racism, class, and classism. Feedback suggests that participants valued the opportunity to hear themselves outside of their bubbles. 

---

If interested in participating, click on link below: