Nigeria Content Online

When pictures from
an African Queen themed photo-shoot by global pop star, Beyoncé
Knowles, for notable French fashion Magazine, L’Officiel Paris, hit the
web early this week, many Africans were livid.

Her crime?

In one of her
photos, Beyoncé accepted to pay tribute to Nigeria’s Fela Anikulapo
Kuti by having her face darkened and both her cheeks painted with
“tribal” stripes, a move the magazine indicates signifies Ms. Knowles’
attempt to return to her African roots.

Questions such as
why a light skinned black woman felt the need to darken her skin to
connect with her African roots quickly surfaced on online platforms
around the world and African-Americans expressed their displeasure by
labelling Beyoncé’s darkening of her face as reminiscent of “Black
Face,” a theatrical make-up that gained popularity during the 19th
century and that propagated racist characterisations of plantation
slaves and free blacks in America.

In the African
context, Beyoncé’s face darkening brings to the fore questions about
Western stereotypes about Africa and what it means to look African.

How “black” is
African? Must one’s melanin tone mirror a shade close to that of
Sudanese model, Alek Wek for one to authentically pass as African? Was
Beyoncé’s complexion too light to be African?

The notion that
looking African solely connotes having the darkest shades of brown or
black as one’s skin tone appears not to sit well with many Africans on
the web. “African complexion” has diversity, and simplifying our skin
tone to the darkest of shades is as heinous a crime as assuming the
entire continent is homogenous in experiences, cultures and traditions.
I agree.

However, are we
being fair to dismiss the notion that though the continent has a
diversity of complexions, the reality of what an average African woman
looks like is one with considerably darker skin tone?

In a sense, can one
argue that Beyoncé’s facial darkening was simply an ode to this
reality? Or was this simply pure foolishness on her part? How does the
concept, Black is Beautiful play into the outrage?

Some African
stereotypes appear to have refused to leave Western consciousness –
stereotypes about tribal Africans that still appear to be the default
muse for attempts at paying homage to the continent. For instance, in
recent times, “African themed” and “African inspired” couture and photo
shoots have begun to crop up more prominently in the West. While this
renaissance is welcome, they from time to time get executed
questionably, as in the recent Beyonce case. A good case in point was
when American artiste, Nicki Minaj did an African tribal voodoo war
paint spread for V Magazine this past January. The resultant photo
shoot was indeed an African tribal voodoo war reenactment and all that
was missing was a Shaka the Zulu-like spear to complete the
stereotypical warrior impression.

That the tribal
African image still has a prominent place in international popular
culture suggests a certain poverty of ideas on the part of Western art
directors. Surely, there should be more than a single story of what
“African inspired” constitutes?

However, is there a
case to be made that in some instances, we Africans are simply being
too sensitive? Will tribal depictions eventually lose their sting if we
give them the silent treatment?

Where do we draw the line between art and mischief?

For instance, some
call contemporary tribal themed shoots a modern artistic take on
African tribes arguing that in a sense, this modern take is a
“post-stereotypical” interpretation of Africanness. As such, the
intention is not to denigrate but to commemorate the richness of our
culture in artistic fashion. It is all art, they say and a lack of
appreciation for it is an overly emotive reaction by Africans.

In Beyonce’s case
for instance, can the argument be made that she was simply artistically
re-enacting the facial decorations of Fela’s women who often had tribal
stripes and/or dots inscribed in chalk on their faces? And though this
does not excuse her facial darkening, that perhaps her light complexion
would not have allowed for the full dramatisation of the tribal stripes
on her skin, hence the need to darken her face… not in contempt of
Africa and her people but in full artistic appreciation of the true
beauty of Fela’s women…

Thoughts?