The setting for this encounter seems particularly ironic... I was at an open forum about the art world and how things have changed over the past 10 years in London. It was organised by a group set up and dedicated to artists from a diversity of backgrounds both internationally and within Britain. Many questions came up about representation of non-white artists within the institutions.
ok that's the setting.
I had already spotted one of the students I'm working with. She is white. She came up to me at the end and we chatted about what C and I are doing for Saturday's workshop. The workshop is around ideas of ghettoization and representation in one particular major art institution. She confessed that she should have been helping but she's been away.
"And," she added, "being Caucasian, I don't think I can help much. It's got nothing to do with me anyway."
My response was that we're all implicated and left it at that.
NB: Like all my entries, this is subjective, from my point of view. Others may record these events differently.