Dear Madam,

I recently read your article titled “Human Zoo” and I am writing to raise a concern about your recent article on the “Human Zoo.” I am very concerned on your extremely biased view, you are making these people out to be criminals and racists.

Brett Bailey is simply trying to express the feelings of himself and others, and I am deeply distressed over the shutting down of the exhibition. It is a very important period in history and because someone is trying to depict it respectfully, now they are seen as a racist and a monster. I know this is a controversial subject but it is art and as it has been quoted that “Art needs to push boundaries.” and this exhibition has tried to do so but Brett Bailey is being labelled as a monster. Additionally he is only trying to respectfully depict and remind us of the horrors of colonialism. And you are trying to silence him?

The “Exhibit B” has had five-star ratings from all around Europe and hasn’t had any reports of racism or objectification, until it came to London this obviously shows we are not exposed to this type of horror. In my opinion if we are not regularly reminded of the horrors of slavery it could easily resurface causing the horrors could repeat. The main reason for the protesters wanting to shut down the exhibition is because the director of the “show” is white. He has been compared to the director Twelve Years a Slave, Steve McQueen, and McQueen hasn’t been labelled as racist, the only two difference is that it is art and not film and that Brett Bailey is white. Which should not make a difference because race does not define feelings for such a theme.So what is racist about what Myers says is a “racist exhibition”? Is it really racist to show the shocking facts of the past. The holocaust is integral part of history and majority Jewish people do not take the same opinion, this is because the Holocaust has be portrayed it in film, in art galleries, on stage and in literature in all its horrific detail.

Additionally  people didn’t say films such as Schindler’s List or The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas was racist or anti-semitic because they saw its context. Jewish people have watched the depiction for the holocaust story for years without accusing them of racism or anti-Semitism. Like The Holocaust, slavery itself has been on-screen in film and in plays. Myers started the campaign on a “gut reaction” after seeing a piece about “Exhibit B” in The Guardian this is not the most informative because if Myers had done his research he would see the correct image trying to be portrayed by the exhibit. Making the term Human Zoo is not in Brett Bailey’s title, it’s Myers, made from a “Gut reaction”. And only if Myers had done any sort of research towards the exhibition he would have seen the context of it and understood it.

For many Jewish people these films and plays and exhibitions are impossible to watch. The story of The Holocaust is one known too well. The pain is still there. But by remembrance through things like art and literature, it allows us to remember and learn from past mistake. Many opposer think mostly the same thing and thank the starter of the protest Myers this is one man’s quote for his appreciation.“ I speak with the heart of an Ethiopian man, an Englishman, a spiritual man and a practical man. These are the ventricles that pump blood throughout me 24 hours a day. I thank Sara Myers and her “campaigners” for the opportunity to consider my personal position on their flawed campaign which aims to silence an artist. I thank them for this opportunity to speak as one”.

A supporter of the exhibition said “I am not defined by my scars but by the incredible ability to heal. And part of this healing is to know the story of oppression. These stories must be told by all to all. Like the Jewish community we may not like what we see but we can understand that it must be seen. This is our strength. It must be told a thousand ways by a thousand generations to come.”

And therefore I hope that you feel my disgust at the closure of the exhibit and possibly even review your petition for its closure to allow an amazing piece of art to return.

Yours sincerely,
Thomas Wood