Tag: Keleketla! Library

  • Pussy on a Plinth // elevating the personal as political through paper-based prints and zines

    Hearing about young, womxn-only collectives in Johannesburg is always a moment of excitement and encouragement for me. It speaks to the importance of collaborative work as well as the necessity for womxn to provide creative and emotional support to one another when learning to navigate art spaces in the city. Pussy On A Plinth (POP) is one such collective. The collective includes the artists Yolanda Mtombeni, Boipelo Khunou, Lebogang “Mogul” Mabusela, Allyssa Herman, Cheriese Maharaj, Lara Bekker, Zinhle E. Gule, Penny Muduvhadzi, Nthabeleng Masudubele, Didi Allie and Janine Bezuidenhout.

    When asked about where the name for the collective came from, they shared that it emerged out of conversations about an image from a nude shoot that involved two of the members. “In one of these images, one of them was seated on a plinth. That is when we began discussions around what that image could possibly mean.” Wanting to unpack this further, I asked about what kind of ideological weight they are hoping their name will have, particularly when combined with their creative practice.

    “The name attempts to disrupt the patriarchal structures both in society and the white cube gallery spaces. Putting a pussy on a plinth speaks of uplifting, bringing attention to, as well as monumentalizing the work of womxn artists. ‘Pussy’ in this instance, is used as a reclamation of power by attempting to normalize the use and essence of the word as a term that is not derogatory or belittling.”

    Since the inception of POP their work has manifest in the form of paper-based prints and zines. These are often guided by reflections on their experiences and thoughts as womxn. “Our work is interrogative, illustrative, engaging for the public and thought provoking,” they express.

    The most recent display of their work was at the Lephephe print gathering towards the end of 2017, which was hosted and organized by Keleketla Library! in collaboration with the collective Title in Transgression. For this they created an image-focused zine to introduce  POP and its members. In addition to this they hosted a zine workshop that zoomed in on the question ‘What is your personal politics?’ Reflecting on this, they shared that “the experience was inspiring and affirming; [it allowed us to] communicate our processes, thoughts as well as our goals with the public and other artists in the space as a collective.

    The work of the collective and of each member ties into the ideas shared by the 70s feminist slogan ‘The personal is political’ which was adopted from Carol Hanisch’s essay by the same name. Individually, under this larger umbrella, they each have specific areas of focus, which sometimes overlap. These include patriarchal culture, post-colonial or gendered culture; the gaze, human consumption, black womxnhood and its experiences; mental health and associated topics; as well as the effects of post-colonial, patriarchal and gendered cultures. When listing these themes, it is quite easy to see how their collective has become an extension of their individual thematic foci.

    When asked about what they have in the works for 2018, they shared that, “We are working on hosting more zine jams at various spots in Johannesburg where people can engage and contribute to the zine archive that has started building up. There is also a plan to have a womxn takeover at the DGI studio as a type of physical alteration of the male-dominated space. The result of this will be a print show which we have been organizing for a while now.  The prints we will be producing will mostly consist of relief prints, ‘relief’ being in the form of printmaking, but also as a literal form of relief for us as womxn, as a collective and as individuals.”

    POP hopes to continue to grow as a collective by getting involved in work and art spaces beyond paper-based prints and zines. To keep up with their growth and the possibility of new artistic directions, check them out on Instagram.

  • MIXED SPACE // delving into the blind spots in South Africa’s racial conversations

    “So…What are you?”

    The short film MIXED SPACE by Zara Julius looks into the experiences of middle class, mixed race individuals, teasing out the questions they have received from others and the ones they hold within themselves. The film draws on Zara’s own experience as a mixed race individual. South Africa has a complex and violent history around race, with the four Apartheid racial categories still firmly embedded within people’s interpretative frameworks used when interacting with other people. In the film we see participants reflect on the moments they first had to look at themselves through the societal lens, and the encounters they had which forced them to do so at a young age. Interviewees speak candidly about the violent questions and inferences they have tried to process throughout their lives, as well as share their points of reference for their racial identities in the past, the reasons why they were able to identify with them then, and perhaps not now.  We see raw discussions around other people transposing their discomfort, confusion or curiosity on to their bodies through stares and claims about what they look like. This film delves deeply into issues around racial categorization and the “blind spots” in South Africa’s racial conversations. The film is also a space for self-identification.

    Having directed, filmed and edited the film herself, in our interview Zara explained that her background in Social Anthropology has formed an important foundation for her methodologically and has allowed her to see the value in investing in a long term project.

    While the short film MIXED SPACE has only recently come to life, the foundations for it began a few years ago with a series of focus groups in her apartment. At the time Zara did not anticipate that these would manifest into a film. In these discussions participants would share their experiences of what it is like to grow up being mixed race or racially ambiguous. Zara recorded these focus groups. In between the chats, tears and laughter, and being mixed race herself, Zara felt as though there was something powerful in the way that people were opening up about how they grew up, the questions they have had to face, as well as the unpacking of racial categorization. This feeling was coupled with a desire to do something visual.

    She started working on a photo series which involved asking participants where they would like to be photographed, giving them the ability to control how they are represented and the objects they would like to appear in the frame. While working on this photo series she started thinking about the idea for a film, and shot a pilot of the film with one of the participants in the project. Interest around the film has snowballed and has become a lot larger than Zara anticipated, and she is pleasantly surprised.

    The experiences that the participants in the film share speak to understanding and unpacking racial injustice. They share the pain, violence and exhaustion that comes from macro level racial categorization as well as micro gestures that influence the way in which mixed race people have to try and navigate space and interactions with other people.

    Directing, filming and editing the film herself allowed the moments with the participants to feel conversational, and well as a form of her coming to terms with the questions and experiences that she has had throughout her life.

    Zara finds it important for her work to be interdisciplinary, and so the first screening of MIXED SPACE at the AVA Gallery in Cape Town was presented to audiences as an art installation. In discussion about this choice, Zara expressed that she “really wants to be able to make work that makes sense in a gallery space, but also in an academic space, as well as a populous space or like a non-hierarchical space. [It should be] applicable to all those areas”.

    The second screening took place Goldsmiths College in London. Keleketla! Library in Johannesburg will also host a screening of MIXED SPACE on the 6th of July.

    Credits:

    Zara Julius – director, producer, cinematographer and editor

    Daniel Gray – music

     

    The film features:

    Kyla Phil – film maker and performer

    Brian Kamanzi – writer, decolonial thinker, engineer, educationist

    Qiniso van Damme – model, actress, socially major

    Alexandria Hotz – decolonial thinker, activist

    Kenny Morifi-Winslow – influencer, fashion anthropologist

    Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh – author, political analyst, hip-hop artist

    Meghan Ho Tong – architect

    Sekh-Fei De Lacy – brand strategist, photographer, videographer

    Yanos De Vries – DJ

    Thulile Gamedze – artist, arts writer, decolonial thinker

    Londi Gamedze – musician

    Lindiwe Malindi – academic, writer

    Sankara Gibbs

    Anita Makgetla – fashion designer, copywriter

     

    ‘This article forms part of content created for the British Council Connect ZA 2017 Programme. To find out more about the programme click here.’

  • Artist Lisolomzi Pikoli on the human figure and connections to nature

    Visual artist and muralist Lisolomzi Pikoli aka Mr Fuzzy Slippers will be conducting a walkabout on his work titled Man Like Mountain: Of Memory and Scar at Keleketla! Library on Friday the 24th of February.

    His work generally focuses on the human figure and its relation to line, shape and form. This is coupled with themes around outer body experiences, past experiences, thoughts, dreams and the magical are used as channels to express what he experiences internally. He speaks from the position of a second generation urbanized South African and draws on history that he explains as being genetically embedded within us and alive in different ways.

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    The Reeds

    Man Like Mountain: Of Memory and Scar is a project that he has been working on over the past two and a half years, and has culminated into an exhibition and publication.

    Lisolomzi uses the mountain as a visual metaphor to think about the human life cycle. In the same way that the mountain gets formed through force and collision, and is shaped by the elements, so too does the human life cycle get formed through struggle and different influences in the world, sometimes leaving scars. “But they [the scars] remind you of something. That you still stand and you are still here,” Lisolomzi expresses.

    The publication itself has four different paragraphs, which serve as four seasons. Each section has its own tale and its own tone which will be expanded on during the walkabout on Friday. The walkabout will showcase all the original works included in the publication.