Footage of a woman being defiled was a staged act from 2013 by an artist in Brazil, unrelated to Mali
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on February 15, 2022 at 16:01
- Updated on February 15, 2022 at 16:35
- 3 min read
- By Mayowa TIJANI, AFP Nigeria
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The video has been retweeted more than 300 times and drawn over 20,000 views on Twitter.
The tweet reads: “A group of French citizens caught on camera urinating on Malian Citizen after a new millitarey Regime end the relationship between Malian and France government Amid the atrocities Being committing against Malians in Mali by the government of France! (sic)”.
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The same footage has been shared on Facebook as well as in numerous WhatsApp groups in Nigeria.
The clip, about two minutes long, appears to show white men and women taking turns to urinate on a naked black woman, who is curled up on the ground and surrounded by a circle of people.
However, the scenes depicted in the footage have nothing to do with France or events in Mali.
Video shot in Brazil
A reverse image search of keyframes from the video led to this footage on video-sharing platform Vimeo from five years ago.
The title reads: “performance PIEDRA de REGINA JOSÉ GALINDO (sic)”.
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A further search of the keywords from the Vimeo caption revealed the works of Guatemalan performance artist Regina Jose Galindo. The video making the rounds on social media features a piece by Galindo from 2013, titled Stone (Piedra in Spanish).
According to the Hemispheric Institute, which connects artists, scholars, and activists from across the Americas, the video was recorded on January 17, 2013 at the institute’s 8th Annual Encuentro in São Paulo, Brazil.
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The performance sought to stage “a woman’s body and a stone as objects conditioned to endure violent enactments”, protesting the violence women's bodies face worldwide.
Galindo, who covered herself in coal for her role in Stone, has staged other provocative acts over the years.
Tense relations
Relations between France and its former colony Mali have been tense since a coup in May 2021.
Paris has been calling for a return to democracy in the African nation. But the ruling junta reneged on its promise to hold elections in late February.
Since 2013, France has had a military presence in Mali to help Bamako fight jihadist groups. But as anti-French sentiment has continued to rise, French President Emmanuel Macron may announce a withdrawal of the troops in the coming days.
The strained relations between the two countries has generated a stream of misinformation online. False claims are flooding Africa's conflict-ridden Sahel, according to experts interviewed by AFP, sowing discord and confusion in the increasingly volatile region.
AFP Fact Check has debunked some of these claims including here and here.
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