Works&Projects

Synopsis:

Being Mammy is an attempt to explore the world of the ‘Mammy’ caricature and evoke the tragedy of the talented typecast actor doomed to recreate and replay the same role.

Being Mammy is the culmination of a research project working with sources from the Bill Douglas Centre at the University of Exeter. Harold Offeh examined the life and career of actress Hattie McDaniel, who famously played and won an Oscar for her role as ‘Mammy' in Gone With the Wind.

Late in her career McDaniel was singled out by civil rights activists for perpetuating negative stereotypes; her response was the aforementioned quote, which Offeh sees as central to the construction of Being Mammy: it is filled with the pathos of a woman trapped by a stereotype. As a viewer you are confronted by repeated images of the character. The work examines the relationships between role-play, stereotyping and identity through an installation combining performance video works contextualised by artefacts, posters and other ephemera.

The objects were developed from the artist's research into the ‘Mammy' caricature. Starting with historical artefacts and memorabilia, in the course of his research Offeh found websites and fan clubs made recently by fans of Mammy. Offeh was interested in this contemporary audience for Mammy , and the range of domestic objects being manufactured for collectors. Being Mammy is an attempt to engage with the cultish and commercial reproduction of the stereotype. In a series of Sewing Bee's hosted by Mammy with invited guests, various objects were made for the exhibition.