Woman is the nigger of the work

About this artwork.

Please note:  due to refurbishment of the area this work will be stored in the municipal art storage facility.              

The artist Harm Blanken made a sculpture of a collapsed female figure resting her head on her arms and hiding her face; her posture is that of someone who is suffering. After the statue was polished it got a deep black color. All of this evoked associations with a song by John Lennon that was famous at the time (the nineteen-seventies of the twentieth century) but not uncontroversial. 
"Woman is the nigger of the world," Yoko Ono said in 1969. John wrote the eponymous title song in 1972, in which he made a political statement about women's oppression. The song caused a controversy because of the use of the word "nigger". Lennon stated that he had no racist intentions, but wanted to emphasize that women worldwide are treated as badly as slaves. 

About the assignment.

The sculpture by Harm Blanken was purchased by the municipality of Groningen as part of the BKR visual arts regulation. It has been found in various places over the past few decades (including the Oosterpoort Cultural Centre and the De Faun restaurant on Herestraat), eventually ending up in storage at Stadsbeheer city management services. Thanks to the working group Kunst in Lewenborg - one of the aims of which is the production of art in the neighbourhood - Woman is the nigger of the world was once again given a place in the public sphere. It now stands on the square at De Oude Bieb.
Residents were involved in the "green" installation and also put together the pedestal of the sculpture.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Harm Blanken

• District
  Lewenborg, Noorddijk & Ruischerbrug

• Year of creation
  1977

• Art type
  Freestanding sculpture

• Material
  Bluestone

• Dimensions
  h 0,62 x b 0,45x d 0,45 m