Which One Is The Fool?

“The North-African indigenous is a primitive being with a little-evolved cortex and a vegetative life. A braggart, a liar, a thief and a loafer, the North African Muslim is defined as a hysterical moron, prone to unpredictable homicidal impulses.” Antoine Porot, French psychiatrist 

“Which One Is The Fool?” confronts the damaging and racist legacy of Antoine Porot’s colonialist theories, particularly targeting Algerians during colonization. Porot’s racialized neurology perpetuated a narrative that portrayed the indigenous population as inherently inferior, devoid of ethics and values, and labeled them as agents of evil. This rhetoric was instrumental in justifying colonial oppression and exploitation. 

The artwork displays four anonymous MRI brain scans from individuals of various ethnicities, including Algerian. The deliberate anonymity presents a challenge in identifying which MRI aligns with Porot’s derogatory description. It rejects the notion of using science to determine the inherent worth of individuals based on colonial discourse.

In alignment with Frantz Fanon’s seminal work, “The Wretched of the Earth”, the installation amplifies the call to reject the dehumanizing legacy of colonialism and confront its ongoing impacts.