The Two Undiscovered Amerindians Visit is an art performance as it engages directly with the social life and discloses the pre-existing, ongoing, and unacknowledged colonialist and racist attitudes. The artists present themselves as undiscovered Amerindians and referred to themselves as Guatinauis and their homeland Guatinaui (Allain & Harvie, 2014). The couple exhibited in the cage performed traditional tasks while wearing aesthetic costumes that represented the indigenous people. The performance intended to create a satirical commentary on the Western beliefs that Africans or black people are inferior, exotic, primitive, and very different from the white people (Cámara-Leret et all., 2016). During the live performance, the caged couple on the display was the object whereas during the documentary the audience became the object on display. The artists used the role of the caged native couple to scrutinize the responses of the audience that reveals their fundamental beliefs.
The live art performance is theatrical as the caged couple is acting out to the audience. Gomez Pena and Fusco representing the actors have enclosed themselves in a cage and identified themselves as unknown species representing the Guatinaui people. While in the cave the couple wore outrageous costumes like painted faces, grass wears masks, boots, and jewelry (Zetterman, 2014). The couple engages themselves with traditional tasks like sewing dolls and engaging with traditional ritual objects. At a small fee, the female Guatinaui would execute traditional dance and tell stories of Amerindian, and the visitors would pose with the couple for some photographs. The guards next to the cage provided additional information to the inquisitive audience about the caged couple, feed them, and take them to the bathroom on leashes.
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In this art performance, a hypothetical spectator ends assuming the role of the colonizer but finds themselves feeling uncomfortable with the actions in the performance. The audience is supposed to feel upset by seeing people living in a cage. The entire performance is humiliating by subjecting people to the cruel living conditions of a human zoo (Ginsberg, 2020). The caged couple is dressed in an unimpressive manner and being feed through the bars which creates an impactful image to the audience. Again, they are taken to the washroom on leashes which is humiliating. The audience is supposed to see the absurdity in the entire exhibit and understand that people should not be mocked or treated in such a way because their culture is different which reflects the injustices and oppression experienced by the native people.
An ideal spectator would be able to understand the satirical commentary of a caged couple of fake human zoos and grasp the critical message of the nature of colonialism. The goal of the artists in this performance was to educate the audience about the cruelty of the Western world history of exploiting the indigenous non-white people (Student & Critical and Curatorial Studies, 2019). The Western idea of primitive and exotic representation was to create an encounter in which the ideal audience would undergo reflection as to why such action. The idea would allow visitors to consider their acts with colonialism. After the audience understands the concept represented, they are encouraged to change their discrimination against race once they see their actions of stereotype in the performance.
References
Allain, P., & Harvie, J. (2014). Gómez-Peña, Guillermo. In The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Performance (pp. 67-67). Routledge.
Cámara-Leret, R., Copete, J. C., Balslev, H., Gomez, M. S., & Macía, M. J. (2016). Amerindian and Afro-American perceptions of their traditional knowledge in the Chocó biodiversity hotspot. Economic
Ginsberg, E., 2020. The Couple In The Cage | Beautiful Trouble. [online] Beautifultrouble.org. Available at: <https://beautifultrouble.org/case/the-couple-in-the-cage/> [Accessed 17 November 2020].
Student, D. M., & Critical and Curatorial Studies, A. (2019). Guillermo Gómez-Peña’s Barriopunk Performance and Postcolonial Cyborg Invasion. Hemisphere: Visual Cultures of the Americas, 12(1), 26.
Zetterman, E. (2014). Traumatic social memories and visual practices of representation: A case study of performances by Chicano artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña. In ECPR 8th General Conference. Section: Art as Political Witness. Glasgow University, Glasgow, UK, September 3–6, 2014. (pp. 1-10).
