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«Black Bullets»
2012, Jeannette Ehlers
Duration: 05:05
Exhibition: 13. June — 05. July 2014
Part of the collection
The Danish artist Jeannette Ehlers deals with slavery and colonialism repeatedly in her work. In the video « Black Bullets » she uses the Haitian Revolution as her theme.
In 1804 the French colony of Saint-Domingue fought for their independence. The slave revolt, which preceded the revolution, is the only successful slave revolt in history. It began with the legendary Vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman (Crocodile Forest) in the northern part of Saint-Domingue. According to legend, a black pig materialized and was sacrificed in a ritual in which hundreds of slaves drank the pig’s blood. The blood gave these slaves the power to fight for their freedom. The result is the world’s first black republic: Haiti. With her video « Black Bullets », Jeannette Ehlers reminds us of the history of slavery and pays tribute to the revolution. The video was filmed in the Citadel Laferrière in Haiti.