When I was in college I took one of the most impactful classes that I still think about daily. The class was called “The History of Museums and the Politics of Display”. In this class I learned of how the idea of museums went from the private into the public sphere, and the long racist history of displaying humans. This is where I learned about Sarah Baartman, a woman tricked from her home in South Africa to Europe where she was exploited by her owners. She made a ton of money for them. She barely saw a dime. She was beaten, pimped out, and forced to endure verbal and physical abuse by her onlookers. Her body shape is rumored to be the inspiration behind the bustle. Her story resonated with me so deeply that I knew at some point I needed to make a video about her life. Sarah Baartman’s Story is a True Crime story.
As you may expect Sarah Baartman's story is emblematic of the insidious nature of colonialism. European men, driven by financial gain and a skewed sense of superiority, orchestrated her journey to Europe. Here, she was paraded on stage, objectified, and subjected to unimaginable cruelty. The freak show phenomenon, a political arena in its own right, propagated distorted views of race and humanity.
Baartman's exploitation did not end with her passing; it took a more grotesque turn. Dissected and dehumanized, her remains were preserved, with certain body parts used for unspeakable acts. The appalling extent of the degradation continued even beyond the grave.