Bubblegum Club

Tag: empowerment

  • [CROP] // An Exploration of Cross Continental Creative Resistance

    [CROP] // An Exploration of Cross Continental Creative Resistance

    Scattered. Pin-points positioned. X-marks-the-spot on the site of intervention. Latitudinal lines of social disparity. Captured and activated between continental shifts in a spaciotemporal moment of defiance.     

    [CROP] is an acronym for Creative Resistance & Open Processes. Established with an ideology centred around inclusivity and accessibility, the collective aims to make art free. The participating agents come from “diverse and multi-disciplinary backgrounds, we use street art to question societal issues, while paying homage to some of society’s most marginalized and often unseen individuals.” [CROP] operates at the powerful intersection between art and activism. CHUZKOS exists as a parallel collective and South American counterpart. Founded by Idelette Aucamp and Boris Mercado the collectives have been able to explore continental conversations between Columbia, Ecuador, South Africa, New Zealand as well as an upcoming activation in Peru. Through these interventions art is utilized as a vehicle for positive change in opposition to issues plaguing society.

    The inaugural [CROP] project launched in Johannesburg last year. Sites of activation were peppered throughout the city and included Melville, Braamfontein, Maboneng, Parkhurst, Parkwood, Jeppestown and other parts of the CBD. “We initiated the project by hosting two collaborative workshops, inviting local photographers and creatives to be part of a core team that would co-create a concept for a public intervention on the streets of JHB, South Africa. During these creative labs, each member presented their portfolios, shared ideas and discussed issues related to the power of photography, design and collective efforts.” After selecting, editing and printing the images they were wheat-pasted at selected points across the cityscape.

    “Creative expression is a powerful tool of resistance that cultivates a sense of unity, pride and empowerment. By connecting like-minded artists, creatives, and organisations for the artworks, we also encourage those involved to continue conversations and relationship-building in their communities, and to independently explore ongoing project potential.”

    The latest iteration of [CROP]’s South African projects was Sililizwe Lase Khayamandi (We are the voices of Kayamandi) in July. This manifestation integrated a poetic element and was focused on the importance of collaboration within communities. It blended together poetry, photography, design, and urban art co-created by CHUZKOS and INZYNC Poetry and took the form of a poetry workshop & photo zine. The township adjacent to Stellenbosch translates to ‘sweet home’ in the Xhosa language. The open call invited photographers to submit images that depicted “social issues, promoted the critical visual exploration of the social environment, and captured our united resistance by focusing on local stories, landscapes, faces and emotions.”

    The final installations included poems from local community members – creating conversation between image and text. “South Africa’s past has been devastating and profound, with many inequalities created and maintained by apartheid, still evident today… Past neglect, lack of investment, poor infrastructure, overpopulation, violence, poverty and isolation from urban centres are all challenges people living in townships face today. Art however, is a powerful tool of resistance, one that inspires hope, encourages unity and empowers people to fight for change.”

    In Cali, Colombia during December 2016 CHUZKOS collaborated with Colectivo Telefono Roto (Cali) & Casa Fractal to create Cápsulas de Realidad (Reality Capsules). “The residency aimed to unearth realities of the housing crisis, we wanted to raise awareness about the social and environmental implications related to lack of housing, poor infrastructure, pollution in rural areas, public spaces being occupied by the homeless, relocation, and the fragmentation of society.” Images of these social realities were placed in middle class, trendy suburbs as a way to disrupt bourgeoisie denial. “The project was an act of independent cultural activism, highlighting the link between visual anthropology and urban intervention… We also interviewed Rafael Vergara Navarro, a well-known environmentalist and activist form Cartagena, who shared his opinion on the social and environmental impact the housing problem has on societies.”

    The upcoming [CROP] Lima Intervention will take place on the 22nd of September in Peru. This iteration will celebrate local rural culture in Pamplona Alta on the periphery of the city – a community forgotten and ignored. “The core team is made up of 12 creatives, including photographers, designers, muralists, graffiti artists, collage artists, and musicians. There are two workshops being hosted where artists will collaborate using photography, graffiti, collage and embroidery on photos to create a single large piece of artwork to be used in an urban intervention. Throughout the process our musicians set the tone by playing music and inviting audiences to participate.” At the heart of all [CROP] projects is the desire to create activations that transform and engage spaces.

     

    Supporters and connected organisations: Street capture, Pleekō,

    Core [CROP] Kayamandi team: Adrian van Wyk (InZync), Boris Mercado(CROP & CHUZKOS), Cale Waddacor (Dead Town), Gulshan Khan (CROP: Photographer), Idelette Aucamp (CROP & CHUZKOS), Lily Branon (Legacy Centre), Pieter Odendaal (InZync), Ryan Jarrett (CROP: Video), Salym Fayad (CROP: Photographer)

    Photographers: Barry Christianson (@thesestreetsza), Matteo Placucci (@matteo_placucci), Kgomotso Kgopa (@seedaforika), Thina Olona Zibi (@thinazibi)

    [CROP] Kayamandi Poets: Nthateng Machaea, Mxolisi Arthur Mbeleko, Sam Maricoh, Vusumzi Mokoena, Anele Sihlali

  • Dana Scruggs – Photography celebrating the black body and increasing visibility

    Dana Scruggs – Photography celebrating the black body and increasing visibility

    Rawness used as a tool of empowerment. A shutter that constructs a narrative around the individuals captured. A constant return to documenting the movement of the human form and the beauty of the black body. A visual activism. A visual voice.

    Dana Scruggs is a photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her string of victories in the photography profession include capturing Tori Bowie (Olympic gold-medalist and the fastest woman in the world) for ESPN’s 10th edition of their Body Issue. With this editorial Dana broke barriers by being the first black female photographer to have contributed to this issue.

    A raw approach becomes a voice for a community and acts to represent and celebrate the black body in all its infinite beauty. The realness in her work showcases individuals in a perspective that is hardly seen but mostly felt. By this I mean that her work translates as an emotion – as an embodiment of the people she photographs.

    In an interview with DAILY RITUAL Dana expresses her view on the industry, “Representation matters not just in front of the camera but behind it as well. Brands, mags, & galleries need to look at how they may be feeding into a culture that’s not inclusive of Black women and not inclusive of women of color. It’s not enough to have Black women in your magazine, ad campaign or grace the walls of your gallery. As artists, our voices have been underrepresented and underemployed for far too long. Make the effort to seek us out… MAKE THE EFFORT TO BE INTERSECTIONAL.”

    To check out more of her work visit her website.

     

  • Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action // generative archiving and LGBTIQ activism

    Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA), situated at Wits University, is a centre for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and questioning/queer (LGBTIQ) culture and education in southern Africa. “Our mission is to act as a catalyst for the production, preservation and dissemination of knowledge on the history, culture and contemporary experiences of LGBTIQ people,” states Keval Harie, GALA’s director. The reason for the inception of GALA in1997 stems from their original name, ‘Gay and Lesbian Archives’. The purpose of GALA was to address the erasure of the stories and experiences of LGBTIQ people from official archives and other spaces. Since then the scope of their work has expanded to include a multitude of activities that focus on dialogue around sexuality and gender identity with the purpose of educating the public, building a community among LGBTIQ people, and to inspire action.

    Image from ‘Out the Box: A Glimpse into 20 Years of Queer Archiving’

    “In 2007 we changed our name to Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (while retaining the acronym GALA) to better reflect this development. However, the archival programme remains the heart of GALA.”

    As a working archive that reclaims a place in the regional history and culture for LGBTIQ people, GALA does not collate information and host events in an attempt to state that LGBTIQ people are homogenous. Instead their direction is towards heterogeneous experiences but within shared structural, institutionalised marginalisation which is filtered into everyday discrimination.

    “Today, we are the custodian of a large number of individual and organisational archival collections that document the history, culture and contemporary experiences of LGBTIQ people in Africa. Our archives and accompanying resources are freely available via our website and to visitors to our office.”

    Youth forum member Wenzile photographed by Genevieve Louw

    “Homosexuality is un-African”. This is one of the many statements that GALA is hoping to wipe away. “We aim to re-insert queer voices into Africa’s history.  During our two decades of working we have played a unique role – affirming LGBTIQ communities, shaping public opinion and enhancing perceptions of queer African identities, in South Africa and across the southern African region,” Keval explains. The information they store and preserve have been used to create other ways of sharing knowledge, including plays, and theses. This points to the fact that their archive is generative.

    Enforcing self- and collective empowerment, over the past 10 years GALA has created youth programmes, including a weekly Youth Forum and monthly Queer Realness publications. These offer physical and political safe zones of representation and forms of support for young queer-identifying people.

    GALA 20 poster designed by Cameron Anzio Jacobs

    In addition to this GALA curates an exhibition every two years. By translating their messages into a visual language, they are able to engage with another audience and present another avenue for dialogue through a different medium. “Our latest exhibition (2017), held at the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, was a retrospective exhibition focused on the archive collections, and formed part of our 20th anniversary celebrations.  It was called ‘Out the Box: A Glimpse into 20 Years of Queer Archiving‘.”

    At the moment GALA is working on an education programme that will be facilitated by various university spaces. GALA will also curate exhibitions titled “Out the Box: 20 years of Queer Archiving” and “Kewpie” this year along with launching their GALA 20 book that commemorates 20 years of GALA’s work since 1997. Keep an eye on their Facebook page for more details.

    Photography by Keval Harie
    Photography by Keval Harie