In ‘Manifesto Antopófago’ or ‘Cannibalist Manifesto’ (1928), Oswald de Andrade proposes the theory of cultural cannibalism – to cannibalise a dominant culture by eating, digesting and excreting it in an entirely new form. In this way the dominant culture is not imitated nor rejected, but devoured into the native self.
“Eating Each Other” a group exhibition and public program in Kunsthal Extra City in Antwerp,
curated by Michiel Vandevelde, on the dynamics of reappropriation was inspired by Oswald’s manifesto. The project presents the process of ‘cannibalism’, a strategy of reappropriation, through various works to create something entirely new. In a reaction to Antwerp for the first time becoming a city which hosts more residents with a migrant background than native Belgian residents. Therefore the majority is made up of minorities, making it a so called ‘majority-minority city’.
I realized the essence of what’s happening when the Cannibalist Manifesto is applied, like we see in the project Eating Each Other, is the fine definition of what discourse should be about.
We have to renew ourselves every day, on all levels, in order to truly and with all integrity take part in such a discussion or conversation. I stumble upon unaddressed outdated opinions I wasn’t even aware of at that point, every time a topic comes to light again. We have to cannibalize our own sets of opinions and understanding constantly to make sure that the ‘we’ we bring to the table is the optimal version representing our ‘native-self’. Is what I’m saying, thinking, feeling and believing, the conclusion I drew yesterday, already outdated? Is there a part that remains the same, what is the ‘native-self’? Which is again a concept that raises many questions. How can we know for sure, it’s only a representation, an identity in snapshot, a fragment in time before that physical term should transform to something apparently new. Every day I realize, it’s not that I don’t know, it’s that I wasn’t yet taught. I
have to feed myself with ‘others’ daily to get to or maintain my optimal form.
The term or rather metaphor ‘Cannibalism’ a topic with a strong repelling discourse, within its literal context. I’ve been discussing with my peers to see if we can reappropriate our understanding of cannibalism in this western society. We questioned the consumption of human flesh being considered ‘wrong’, even though the flesh was given by consent, opposed to the ease animal flesh, forcibly taken, still being ingested. What will the actual impact be on you as a person and the way you perceive the world, your morals and what you stand for, on your physical body, once you’ve consumed the flesh of your own species? Will it be that different from the flesh of another animal? So far we can only speculate, given the fact that we, in real life are yet unfamiliar with the literal meaning. We found a loop hole. Our perfect
opportunity, within the Dutch law in which cannibalism itself is legal, a law against cannibalism is unnecessary, the way to gather human flesh for consumption (often) is already illegal. And one of my friends recently got a part of his ear amputated. Thus we decided
to host a dinner party. You can’t imagine the actual experience. In order to fully understand, we have to undergo. To cannibalise the meaning of cannibalise.
