Is contemporary art an appropriate medium to explore history?

The Case of the Black Santa

The Black Santa by Canadian artist Léopold Foulem is an exaggerated caricature of a black Santa Claus in the form of a coffeepot. Its display caused a stir at the Saint Mary’s Art Gallery in Halifax last week when students demanded that the art to be removed from display due to its racist portrayal of blacks. The gallery curator Robin Metcalf has refused to remove the display stating: "It would be against our fundamental principles and our code of ethics as an art gallery to censor work and remove it from public display because some viewers object to them, however well considered their objections may be.”1

After getting a glimpse of this piece of art through recent coverage in the Halifax Herald, like the gallery’s curator, I read it as a reflection of the racist characterization of blacks at the turn of the century in North American popular culture, not an endorsement of it.2 I am not sure how important its form as a coffeepot is, as the artist who also had coverage in The Coast currently seems focused on having his medium of ceramic work viewed out of its functional form and into the setting of contemporary art. Whatever art form it takes, what is significant for the sake of this discussion is that it is a representation of a black stereotypical image that would be immediately recognizable to those living in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

After gathering photographs for an exhibition last year, I was struck by just how deeply rooted this concept of black iconography was. Blackness was associated with comedy and the silly portrayals of blacks in theatre, cartoons and especially advertising were a means of justifying the racism that had existed. The photos I uncovered while working at the museum were of children actors from what was called a blackface theatre troupe distinguished by their black painted faces and comedic Harlequin costumes. There were many different theatre groups portrayed in this collection of photos in a similar manner over the span of several decades. These powerful images stuck out in my mind as documenting an extreme form of racism. We rarely see visual depictions like these of racism from the perspective of their arbitrator. These popular images are our visual link into the psychology or mindset behind these very real constructs.

I am not sure that taking down this art is the solution. I think the Black Santa brings up valuable questions about our history. Firstly, can we learn anything from these contemporary interpretations of history? Would old photos, for instance the ones I discovered at the museum, alongside a detailed text panel which contextualizes the history be a more appropriate means to deliver a message about the racism that existed during this time period? A major issue for me is that these images still exist today and we often don’t even acknowledge or challenge them. Perhaps delivering them in the form of contemporary art will more successfully direct our attention to this history, just as the Black Santa has. Aunt Jemima is still on the cover of everyone’s favorite pancake syrup, an image which is a caricature of a nineteenth-century performer. Taking down a piece of art won’t erase this image, this history or the fact that it is still in circulation today. But it does seem to open up the door to discussion and further exploration of the subject or in the words of the artist on his ceramics,"[t]hey make you think!"3


1 Kelly Sheirs, "Black Santa offensive, student says" in The Halifax Herald, 10 Nov. 2007, http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/977694.html (accessed 10 Nov. 2007).
2 Ibid.
3. Mike Landry, "Hard copy", in The Coast, 1 Nov. 2007, http://www.thecoast.ca/119808.113118body.lasso?-token.folder=2007-11-01&-token.story=151032.113118&-token.subpub= (accessed 10 Nov. 2007).