Of Mimicry, Mimesis and Masquerade

Mimicry reveals something in so far as it is distinct from what might be called itself that is behind. The effect of mimicry is camouflage, in the strictly technical sense […] It is not a question of harmonizing with the background, but against a mottled background, of becoming mottled – exactly like the technique of camouflage practiced in human warfare.

Lacan, Jacques. ‘The line and light’

What does it mean to mimic or imitate another? Is it a form of flattery? According to Post-colonial theorist Homi Bhabha, in his text “Of Mimicry and Man,” mimicry and camouflage are strategies used by colonized subjects to destabilize the colonizer. Bhabha argues that the act of mimicry is reproduced as ‘almost the same, but not quite’. In a similar manner he suggests the copying of the colonizing culture, behavior, manners, and values by the colonized contains both mockery and a certain ‘menace’, ‘so that mimicry is at once resemblance and menace opening up both sides from their previous positions into a ‘third space’ of ambivalence and hybridity.

For him this third space offers a new chance for a power shift, and the aspiration to new roles within the delicate balance of politics, social structures, colonialism, gender relations and sexualities. In a similar manner the exhibition is an invitation to artists to explore, examine, parody as they masquerade in guise the various issues they wish to address and confront.