MARTHA BIZIMANA

Martha Bizimana

Skin, 2023, Inkjet print on Waratah fabric, 1.5m X 1.5m

Skin is a protest against the traditional conventions of the white art gallery space. Bizimana's Skin deliberately occupies space in a structure that is accustomed to marginalising the black figure. Skin is not meant to be comfortable for viewers, i as it invites audiences to question their relationship to people of colour and to consider skin as the surface of judgement of non-white people. Bizimana's skin is a photograph of the artist hand, and the soft durable fabric is a reference to the sensory understanding of skin everyone experiences, and its exaggerated scale and material presence seeks to raise dialogue about what it is like to be a black person in contemporary society.

By inserting her skin in the art gallery, Bizimana seeks to provoke notions of "black privilege" in the modern world. Below is how the artist defines

"black privilege":

• Having a great community of people all around the world who share the same experiences (racism, hair styles and rhythm)

• When retail shopping I have a personal guard who follows me around

• Walking in the sun and getting embraced by it and not burnt

• Applying for a job and only being successful because you tick the multicultural box.

• Walking down the street and random people shouting, "we love Tupac".

• When white people feel the need to ask where I "REALLY" come from, just to say they have travelled to a country in Africa.