Degas, De’Anne & Miss La La: A live desktop performance by De’Anne Crooks

This event took place on Wednesday 5 May 2021, 6 – 6.45pm

Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando (1879) is a drawing by Edgar Degas of Miss La La, an acrobat of mixed European and African parentage. Exoticised at the time as an African princess, Miss La La’s true name was Olga Kaira Brown, born in Strettin, Germany (now Poland.)

In response to this preparatory sketch of Olga Kaira Brown, Birmingham-based artist De’Anne Crooks presented a live desktop performance engaging with themes of spectatorship, strength and Blackness. The event explored the history of Olga Kaira Brown and the artwork, followed by a Q&A session with Crooks.

This session was hosted via Zoom, allowing for participant feedback and discussion.