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[071]

Ama Ogwo

Memestrilism

[WEB⤴]

Video

Entity

Individual

Discipline

critical

Subject(s)

Feminism, Digital culture, Diaspora

Description

Memestrilism is a term made up of "meme" and "minstrelsy" used to describe minstrel-like behaviours, trends and creations in digital spaces. Produced by artist Ama Ogwo as part of the first Feminist Internet Residency, the film critically examines how racism persists in the digital age, paralleling contemporary online representations of blackness with historical racist imagery. Using found footage from social media and 20th-century minstrel shows, Ogwo collapses time to reveal how the ventriloquism of blackness online mirrors and reinvents what minstrelsy looks like today.

Reflection

The concept of Memestrilism offers a critical lens on the current online zeitgeist, particularly in fashion, by highlighting how cultural appropriation and racial stereotyping continue to manifest in digital spaces. In fashion, the commodification of black culture often intersects with the 'meme economy' of social media, where trends are amplified, decontextualised and stripped of their origins for mass consumption.

The digital landscape thrives on 'hypervisibility', where cultural markers are presented as bold statements, but often lack the necessary cultural nuance. Often Black cultural expressions - hairstyles, clothing styles, linguistic expressions and aesthetics - are showcased through influencers or memes that gain widespread appeal, often without reference to their roots. This parallels historical minstrelsy, where black identity was caricatured and exploited for entertainment. The digital age exacerbates this by enabling the rapid dissemination and monetisation of these trends, further blurring the line between homage and exploitation.

Ogwo's exploration of memestrilism not only critiques, but also reflects the larger conversations taking place in digital fashion spaces about authenticity, representation and the ethics of appropriation in a globalised, meme-driven culture.

External references

Ama Ogwo, A Conversation on Memestrilism: The Digitisation of Minstrelsy

Added on

22.11.24

071

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