Candice Breitz (b. 1972) is presenting at the Kunsthalle Krems her 2022 video work Whiteface as part of the donaufestival. The work by the South-African born artist explores “whiteness” and “white privilege.”

Over several years, Breitz collected media recordings documenting how “white” people speak about race. These perspectives range from right-wing extremist ideologies and propaganda to everyday racism and coming across as a “good white person.” They also illustrate how “white” people wrestle with stereotypes, such as “white privilege”, “white sensitivity”, or “white guilt”.

In Whiteface, the artist appropriates these archive voices like a ventriloquist’s dummy and, donning various wigs, spotlights the conditions of “whiteness”. The film is a portrait of panicked “white” people and satirizes this absurd fear. The artist’s deliberately theatrical performance draws attention to the constructedness of “whiteness” and other racialized categories.

In cooperation with donaufestival

Theory & Talk with Candice Breitz
Some of My Best Friends are White
21/04/2024
Kino im Kesselhaus
Entry with donaufestival-ticket