Alberta Whittle and the Luxury of Amnesia
By Beth James
“My practice is informed by the ability to ‘forget’ unpalatable histories, specifically contested historic and contemporary relationships between the Caribbean and UK, a condition I have termed ‘the luxury of amnesia’.” – Alberta Whittle.
Representing Scotland at the 2022 Venice Biennale, Alberta Whittle is a Barbadian contemporary artist, educator, and researcher. She works with film, collage, installation, sculpture, print, and performance. In 2016, Whittle presented a commissioned performance, A Recipe for Planter’s Punch, and video, Mammmmmyyywata Presents Life Solutions International, as part of curatorial practice Mother Tongue’s exhibition “Rum Retort” in Greenock, Scotland. The exhibition was held in The Tobacco Warehouse, Greenock, and curated by Tiffany Boyle and Natalia Palombo for Mother Tongue.
“Rum Retort” sought to excavate and bring to light the connections between Scotland and the Caribbean, in both historic and contemporary contexts. The site chosen for the exhibition, The Tobacco Warehouse, amplified the efficacy of the intended message. At the height of the port’s trade, Greenock annually received up to four hundred ships containing tobacco and sugar. The maritime link is still present today through both sites being popular stopping points for cruise ships. This contemporary link seems to acknowledge a historic relationship but does not address the less palatable elements of the history.
Alberta Whittle, A Recipe for Planter’s Punch, (2016), “Rum Retort” exhibition, [albertawhittle.com/a-recipe-for-planters-punch].
A Recipe for Planter’s Punch was a commissioned performance work for the closing event of “Rum Retort”. Whittle was inspired by the memory of an old print that depicted a planter demanding more rum from his slaves. In the print the planter is reclining in a “planter chair” overlooking his plantation and the slaves who were labouring there. Whittle notes that this type of satirical depiction of the lives of slaves, slave-owners, and plantation life is exceptionally offensive due to the casual and conscious absence of violence that slaves endured. Whittle’s performance aimed to highlight the privilege of some to forget, deny, and re-write such histories. This condition she has termed the luxury of amnesia, as it describes the capacity to conveniently forget the colonial histories connecting the Caribbean and Scotland in favour of a singular narrative that buries multiple lived experiences.
Whittle’s performance consisted of her moving around the space handing the rum punch ingredients to her audience and instructing them to add them to the punch bowl. Dispersed throughout these instructions, Whittle recites a Barbadian rum punch recipe, a corresponding rhyme – One of Sour / Two of Sweet / Three of Strong / Four of Weak, and lyrics from Rihanna’s song, Bitch Better Have My Money. The lyrics of Bitch Better Have My Money turn into a call for reparations through Whittle’s part-lamenting/part-demanding recitations of “I call out all the shots,” “Don’t act like you forgot,” and “Bitch better have my money.”
Alberta Whittle, A Recipe for Planter’s Punch, (2016), “Rum Retort” exhibition, [albertawhittle.com/a-recipe-for-planters-punch].
The audience handle the ingredients and add them to the punch bowl as instructed, while Whittle sings “Don’t act like you forgot” after each ingredient is added. Whittle would then place her head in the punch bowl and attempt to sing the lyrics again, her head submerged in the rum punch. Through these actions, Whittle’s audience participate in her performance and are subsequently implicated in the process and history of preparing and consuming the drink which has traditionally been associated with pleasure while simultaneously obfuscating the link to slavery.
Alberta Whittle, Mammmmmyyywata Presents Life Solutions International, (2016), film still, [albertawhittle.com/mammmmmyyywata-presents-life-solutions-international].
Mammmmmyyywata Presents Life Solutions International is a film by Whittle founded on her research of decolonisation and memory. Through this research Whittle created an avatar, Mammmmmyyywata, based on the mythological spirit Mami Wata who has many iterations across Africa and Latin America. For Whittle Mammmmmyyywata represents the ability to evolve and change while holding an identity that is capable of multiplicities.
In Whittle’s film, Mammmmmyyywata arrives in Scotland ready to disrupt the dominant narrative that avoids the country’s involvement in the violence of colonisation. She encourages acknowledgement, unearthing uncomfortable memories, and the demand for reparations. Like A Recipe for Planter’s Punch, Mammmmmyyywata Presents Life Solutions International aims to address the audience directly and engage them in their ability, and privilege, to forget and re-write history in favour of one that is more palatable.
Alberta Whittle, Mammmmmyyywata Presents Life Solutions International, (2016), film still, [albertawhittle.com/mammmmmyyywata-presents-life-solutions-international].
Whittle’s work for “Rum Retort” is powerful in its aims to unearth hidden histories between Scotland and the Caribbean while celebrating the multiplicities of identity and culture. Whittle engages with her audience to bear witness, to remember, as a call to action in the face of a culture that is so willing to exercise their luxury of amnesia.
Bibliography
Mother Tongue, “Rum Retort,” (2016), [https://mothertonguecurating.com/rum-retort].
Mother Tongue, “Rum Retort: Curator’s Introduction,” (2016): [https://mothertonguecurating.com/rum-retort].
Alberta Whittle, “A Recipe for Planter’s Punch,” [https://www.albertawhittle.com/a-recipe-for-planters-punch.html].
Alberta Whittle, “Mammmmmyyywata Presents Life Solutions International,” [https://www.albertawhittle.com/mammmmmmmywata-presents-life-solutions-international.html].
Whittle, A. “The Luxury of Amnesia,” Caribbean Quarterly, 63(1), (2017): 3 – 6.