‘People have a very profound, deep, response to it’

SOUTH AFRICAN artist Brett Bailey’s theatre/installation work Exhibit B is sure to be one of the most talked-about shows at this year’s Festival.

In a powerful critique of racism, the show comprises 13 live installations, examining colonial policies, the history of Europe in Africa, and the plight of immigrants today. As spectators walk through Exhibit B, to the sound of lamentations sung by a live Namibian choir, their gaze is unexpectedly returned. To quote from a review by The Guardian:

"Confronting us with the appalling realities of Europe’s colonial past – the stuff I definitely wasn’t taught at school – Exhibit B isn’t just some kind of guilt trip. It reminds us that most history is hidden from view; it reminds that Britain’s 21st-century ways of seeing are still strongly skewed by 18th, 19th, and 20th century colonial attitudes."

A white South African, Bailey admits his childhood was one of privilege. Galway Advertiser's Charlie McBride looks at how he grew into the artist who creates works that critiques racism and the relationship between the West and Africa?

Read the full interview here. Buy tickets for Exhibit B here.