Bones

Sara Baartman was a Khoikhoi woman who was exhibited as a ‘freak-show’ attraction in 19th-century Europe, and remains a reminder of the depth of colonial-era racism. When Sara died in Paris in 1815, her body was dissected in the name of ‘science’, or, more accurately, what we now recognise as scientific racism, and her skeleton and body cast displayed in France’s museums, where they remained publicly accessible until the 1970s. Bones tells the story of Baartman’s final repatriation to South Africa in 2002, which was catalysed by a 1998 poem, “I’ve Come To Take You Home” by writer and activist Diana Ferrus. Told largely through Diana’s eyes, the film explores the power of art and writing to lead the charge in restorative justice and accelerate ancestral and collective healing. At the same time, it shows how the dark impulses that exoticised Sara have not completely dissipated, and those same prejudices still inform Western perceptions of black bodies. Made in honour and in loving memory of Dr Diana Ferrus (1953 – 2026).