Critical Writing Index

Rodeo show puts war artist on the spot

by Martin Morrow

Calgary Herald, Jan. 9, 1998, p. 7

Martin Morrow provides a detailed overview of Somalia Yellow, a One Yellow Rabbit production. Steeped in the shameful controversy of Canadian Airbourne Regiment's torturing to death of Somali teenager Shidane Arone, the production combines video imagery with a scripted rhetorical question-and-answer performance intended to challenge unconscious racist attitudes held by the Canadian public. Visual artist Allan Harding Mackay was commissioned by the Canadian Army to spend six days in Somalia during March 1993 to document UN peacekeeping efforts there. His stay coincided with the uncovering of the torture scandal, spurring the production of Somalia Yellow.

ITEM 1998.107 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

Somalia YellowAllan Harding Mackay