The Couple in the Cage

First of all, this is not an anthropology documentary but the documentary record of the 1991-92 year-long performance art production, "The Year of the White Bear" staged by cultural critic Coco Fusco and performance artist, Guillermo Gomez- Pena. The couple installed themselves in a gilt cage throughout art centers around the world including Madrid, Spain; Orange County, California; Walker Art Center; Whitney Biennial, NYC; and the grand rotunda of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C.

Fusco, an enormously talented author and artist produced the documentary from performance footage as the couple, dressed in outlandish pastiche costumes with "ethnic" overtones represented themselves as two "undiscoverd aborigines" from the make-believe Gulf of Mexico island of Guatinaui. Within the cage, the couple posed for photographs with museum visitors, were taken for walks on a leash lead by "handlers," and performed "authentic" native dances and rituals for a nominal fee. The public and museum audiences were stunned, entertained, shocked, and outraged. The reactions are priceless as some individuals believed museums continue to exhibit humans in cages at the end of the 20th century. The repercussions to this mindset was both an eye opener for the artists and the art institutions, however, with the political mindset of the new millennium, this notion is no longer shocking.

Within the discussion, Fusco inserted background research for the performance that included historical photographs and data which pointed out the practice of displaying humans in freak shows, carnivals, and museums, a practice that provides criticism of the ongoing debate surrounding the authority of museums to exhibit and interpret the art and cultures of non-western societies. An alternative voice during the Quincentennial celebration which was ongoing at the time, The Couple in the Cage is both criticism, satire, and celebration of museums, curators, and artists who actively engage audiences to think on the issues of cultural representation, difference, and race with the kind of satirical punch that Fusco and GG-P are noted for producing.

This is an excellent film for cultural studies, museum studies, art history, and ethnic studies courses as well as a rare background look at the trials and tribulations of live performance art in the arena of culture making. One of the more humorous moments is the tape of an actual phone call by a concerned Smithsonian visitor to the DCASPCA reporting the museum had displayed live humans in a cage -- "yeah, Lady...are you sure it's not two large orangutans?"