‘Always concerned with the invisibility and erasure of Black women in history’

patricia kaersenhout on The Third Dimension

For this solo exhibition, artist patricia kaersenhout already had her dream project ready: a film about the Black women who should have shared the stage with men at the First Congress of Black Writers and Artists in 1956. It is a seamless continuation of her oeuvre, which gives invisible Black women a place in history.

What was the occasion for this exhibition?

“CBK Zuidoost asked me if I wanted to create a solo exhibition. They have been following me since my graduation from the Rietveld Academy. I immediately said yes because I thought it was a wonderful idea. They asked me what my dream project was, and I already had it on the shelf. That was the plan for this film—it was waiting for the right moment. I sent over the proposal, and that is how the project got moving.”

What was the motivation for making this film?

“I had seen the performance Fractured Memory by Ogutu Muraya, in which he weaves the First Congress of Black Writers and Artists in Paris with his own family history. I found it very beautiful, but I noticed that no Black women were present at that congress. Afterwards, I asked Muraya why that was. He didn’t know but thought it was a good question. For me, that was the signal to start researching—I am always concerned with the invisibility and erasure of Black women in history.

At the time, I had a research fellowship at BAK (Basis voor Actuele Kunst) in Utrecht. During my research, I came across an article by Merve Fejzula about that congress and the absence of Black women. To my surprise, I read that the entire congress had been organized by Black women. And that during that congress, the first pamphlet of the Négritude movement was presented by les trois pères (Aimé Césaire, Léon-Gontran Damas, and Léopold Sédar Senghor), while women such as Jeanne and Paulette Nardal and Suzanne Césaire had also made significant contributions to the ideas of the Négritude movement.”

“The more research I did, the more I discovered how important Black women were to the Négritude movement. They had progressive ideas but were overshadowed by the patriarchy of Black men.”

“I wanted to literally place these women in the spotlight within this congress. They should have also stood on that stage and shared their ideas.”

“The film also includes a statement by Richard Wright, the only man who said anything about the absence of women during the congress. He wondered how it was possible that they stood there as Black men and gave no recognition to Black women. ‘We are fighting the same fight,’ he said. And ‘if we are not in solidarity with the women, we ourselves will never be free.’”

“Something else I discovered during my research was that surrealism was very important in the anti-colonial struggle. That art-historical aspect is also important to me. André Breton, the founder of surrealism, was friends with Suzanne and Aimé Césaire, but also with Frida Kahlo. I have no proof that Suzanne Césaire and Frida Kahlo met during that period, but it is very possible. They moved in the same circles, and Kahlo had affairs with both André Breton and his wife Jacqueline Lamba. When I started the research in 2019, I had no idea it would be so relevant today. There is a revival of anti-colonial thought taking place.”

Why did you choose a fiction film and why this form (a staged encounter)?

“It was always the intention that it would be a film. Initially, I wanted to record the film in the same room at the Sorbonne where the congress took place. I wanted to literally place the women on the same stage. It had to be fiction, because none of the women are still alive. The characters are a kind of ghosts returning from the past to claim their place in history.”

“For bureaucratic reasons, it was not possible to film at that location. Fortunately, through the Dutch cultural attaché in Paris, I was able to use the Collège néerlandaise in Paris. That building was designed by Dudok, around the same time as the Négritude movement. In the space where we filmed, there were many murals from the time of Dutch colonialism. I made some of the paintings invisible for the film, but I also adapted the script. Because I felt it should be more about European colonialism, not just French. There are small differences between the various colonizing countries, but they all lean on the same system of violence and oppression. That is why I speak about European colonialism in the film.”

“I did not want to make a documentary, but I felt it was important to stay as close as possible to the main characters. Therefore, as many texts as possible by Paulette and Jeanne Nardal and Suzanne Césaire have been incorporated into the dialogues. There are also quite a few references to surrealism in the film and a lot of symbolism; fiction allows for that beautifully.”

How did you cast the actors, and did they have a significant contribution to the content?

“I wanted actresses who spoke French as well as English and Dutch. For practical reasons: I am not fluent in French myself. I found them through dramaturg Junior Mthombeni. I got to know him through his play Dear Winnie about Winnie Mandela. I thought it was so incredibly good. Following that, I had a correspondence with him and I knew: if I ever make that film, I want to work with him. He understands how to bring actresses to great heights. I judged that correctly, because the collaboration was fantastic. I looked at which actresses he worked with; I trusted that.”

“It was more important to me that the actresses had an African background than that they necessarily looked like their characters. We had a great cast, but on the first day of filming, the actress who was supposed to play Frida Kahlo called in sick. Fortunately, actresses always have an enormous network—we found a fantastic actress in Paris who, as it happens, looks very much like Frida Kahlo.”

“The actresses did not know the history of the women of the Négritude movement, but they could immediately identify with them. It was also striking that they each said they receive far too few or no roles concerning the history of Black women or people they can recognize themselves in. They are mostly offered stereotypes. I hope this film contributes to making these actresses more visible. That it becomes clear they can do more than play a servant or a hysterical Black woman.”

How does the film relate to the rest of the exhibition?

“The film fits very well with the rest of the exhibition. The term The Third Dimension says something about the complex position of Black women. They are always floating somewhere in between, never truly belonging anywhere—as a Black woman, it is difficult to relate to Black men on one side and white people on the other.”

“The film shows how Black women are also not included by Black men in the struggle for freedom and justice. They are placed in a position in which they do not recognize themselves. That is still relevant today. I therefore continue to address that inequality with my art in the hope of making people aware. That is a slow process, but if you keep repeating the message long enough, the penny eventually drops.”

“I hope the topics I address encourage thinking, research, and conversation.”

Are you already working on something new?

“It is usually the case that during a project, a seed already germinates for a next idea. It is still very early, but I am playing with the idea of making a film where I let the roles emerge from the female actors. I want to ask them what their dream role is. Who or what they would want to play. And then see what emerges from that.”