Jade Montserrat responds to Simone Leigh’s brief “If the World’s Fair Pavilions were a recreation of the colonial project while it was still happening, what does the Venice Bienniale do?”
On reaching The Probable Trust Registry (2015; Venice Biennale installation + Participatory Group Performance):
We talk with the Receptionist, she witnesses signatures and we engage in conversation with another, sceptical (a grammatical problem: I will always be too expensive to buy), potential signator;
An exchange follows between myself and the Receptionist
>Adrian Piper, the Black Artist?
> (said with quiet, firm, neutral conviction) no (preceded by something along the lines of she is no longer black or not black anymore or no longer identifies as black or doesn’t want to be labelled as black)
Jade Montserrat on Twitter: @jademontserrat
