Bubblegum Club

Tag: poetry

  • Black Desire & Femme Rage: Goliath and Mohale’s Encounter at Goodman 

    This past Saturday, the Poetry Readings and Conversation brought together Gabrielle Goliath and Maneo Mohale in an event organised by the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg. Founded in 1966 during a time of unthinkable violence and segregation, seldom has the institution presented us with such profoundly embodied explorations of Black desire, sensuality, and queerness in art. The happening was thanks in part to a collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Race, Gender & Class at the University of Johannesburg and its Global Blackness Summer School, whose theme this year is: For Wholeness. Black Being Well. 

    Selecting Maneo Mohale as the function’s facilitator was fitting. Not only did the poet and feminist writer have unstoppable chemistry with the guest of honour, but they were also incredibly qualified to take on such delicate subject matter. Mohale has contributed to various publications and served as a contributing editor at i-D Magazine. Their debut poetry collection, Everything is a Deathly Flower (2019), was shortlisted for the Ingrid Jonker Poetry Prize and long-listed twice for the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Anthology Award.

    The recipient of the 2019 Standard Bank Young Artist Award, Gabrielle Goliath’s work is featured in numerous public and private collections globally including Constellas Zurich, Tate Modern, and Iziko South African National Gallery. Her new body of work Beloved at Goodman Gallery, features drawings and prints. The exhibition, running from October 28 to November 24, 2023, features representations of radical Femme figures like Gabeba Baderoon, Caster Semenya, Sylvia Wynter, Yoko Ono, Sade, and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. While primarily recognised for her sound and performance art, the day was all about Goliath’s autographic practice. 

    Goodman
    Gabrielle Goliath and Maneo Mohale in conversation. Image captured by Thembeka Heidi Sincuba

    Mohale began by inviting the audience to take three grounding breaths. They followed by sharing a poem, The Autobiography of Spring by queer Palestinian poet George Abraham, proceeding thereafter to introduce Goliath’s Beloved. Peering out the coffee table in front of the speakers, one could see Toni Morrison’s own Beloved (1970). This setting and sequence of events set a very specific tone for the day. From the get-go, it was clear that Goliath and Mohale were engaging at the intersection of Blackness, well-being, and creativity, with a soft emphasis on themes of sensuality, and queerness. 

    The way they spoke to each other was gentle and generous. When asked about her practice, Goliath replied, “I want to first speak about this notion of mark-making as a means of being close…” Echoing the mood in the room, Mohale praised this tactile, material, and more physically engaged process. Goliath continued, “… that really refuses the sort of sanctioned genius of the male artist, who works from a removed distance. And I refuse that. The physicality of the way in which I work and work on the floor. I work really close to these drawings. I relinquish the control of the hand. It’s not about the precious fidelity of the mark … it’s about relinquishing to the miraculous, what comes of that moment.” 

    Of course, it would be difficult to speak of love and intimacy without mentioning their antitheses. Goliath characterised her past work Elegy (2015), as a lament-driven work that addresses fatal acts of violence against women while avoiding the perpetuation of trauma. She said, “I did not want to return to the scene of subjection, I did not want to repeat the violence.” 

    At the nexus of art and violence, Mohale skillfully identified space for Femme rage, saying “ … in the wake of so much violence enacted upon my own body, it was really important for me to think it and hook it up to Empire … Not just these giant spectacular eruptions of violence, but legacies of violence.” Drawing inspiration from Glen Coulthard’s concept of “righteous rage,” Mohale invited us to view rage as a tool for Black Femme resistance.

    Goodman

    Mohale prompted Goliath to reflect on the implications of portraying Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in this show. For a while, the pair lingered there and we saw something of a rupture in the way the two saw rage, with Mohale remarking, “I enjoy how my understanding of rage differs from you.” Goliath went on, “ … for me, what is really interesting with Madikizela-Mandela’s portrait specifically, is I find it very vulnerable. … it’s magisterial, but there’s a resignation … when I look at her.” 

    One of the seemingly many roots of the strong intellectual chemistry between Goliath and Mohale was the impact of Christina Sharpe on both of their work. Goliath’s encounter with Sharpe’s Monstrous Intimacies (2010) brought her towards an understanding of violence as both spectacular and insidious. Goliath insists: “We may need to bear our rage, and allow it to be transformed into the possibility of something else.”

    In an audience-pleasing turn, Mohale asked Goliath about her portrayal of artist Desire Marea. As Mohale notes, “Desire being an initiated Sangoma is also not a footnote. … so much of their spiritual power is ancestral, is linked to bloodlines. … I think the sense of the sublime is also something that I chase in my own work, but … I’m seeing the clear instances and connections that are happening now between … contemporary queer artists.”

    The intimate intellectual interaction between Goliath and Mohale prompts a collective reconsideration of the role of rage in desire and queerness in African artistic practices. It also did the long and thankless work of taking up space in an almost impervious institution. As we looked around the room and saw reflections of ourselves, both in the flesh and on the walls, we allowed ourselves to yearn for, perhaps even celebrate the dynamic and precarious possibilities within Black queer existence. Even amid this briefly beautiful moment of perceived reprieve, we were reminded of the violence that surrounds us as Mohale closed the discussion with a steady citation of Gabeba Baderoon’s War Triptych (2004). 

    Goodman

    Goodman

    Goodman



  • Filmmakers Mtengenya and Mkhabela collaborate to turn words into gentle visual poetry

    Filmmakers Mtengenya and Mkhabela collaborate to turn words into gentle visual poetry

    “Let us roam with the stars, because they dance around us” this is the start to Nefro Poetess – Episode 1; Guide Me Home. Nefro Poetess is a three-part web-series by filmmaker Amahle Mtengenya and poet Fezeka Mkhabela (starring Bongani Zulu) —the pair makes use of narrative film to create a vision and bring forth an authentic voice to issues of love, loss, pain and redemption, in a way that is complex. Piece by piece the story unfolds —with Mkhabela’s voice tracking the journey.

    Across the world, women not only face oppression but have become the face of that oppression, Nefro Poetess takes this notion, twists and turns it until it is limp. With a strong woman lead, it reaches deep inside and taps into personal feelings and a state of being —combining the art of filmmaking and spoken poetry into a single language.

    “Poetry is becoming obsolete in the digital age. With this series, we wanted to bring our imagination around poetry to the screen. Creating an awareness around this language” explains Mtengenya.

    Roses, soft pallets, face-painting and ethereal, suspenseful music grace the screen ushering in new voices through independent storytelling. The slight changes in gradient influence the elements that make Nefro Poetess a powerful piece, it is multivalent and highly emotive. An oral and visual experience transporting the viewer into a tense reality.

    Mtengenya and Mkhabela are film students at the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) and Zulu studies architecture at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). The work was born following a film-school research project and a strong friendship between the three —anchored by a deep desire to “create things that people can relate to”. They hope to expand on the ideas of visual poetry and online cinema by extending the web-series. Their shared objective is to use these mediums to tell more authentic, personal stories.

    This beautiful treasure box of a web-series persuades, informs and connects through its slow pace and relatable nature. Part one; ‘Guide Me Home’ is a poem about love; the second part; ‘Painkiller’ expresses pain and loss, while the third; ‘Third Eye Queen’ is redemptive. “Live in truth because you know a black queen never truly dies” – hails Mkhabela…… a resurrection.

    Through this project, language becomes its own topography used to create a space for reflection. Beauty, fragility and authenticity combine to create an indispensable memory.

  • ‘Embroidery For A Long Song’ // merging the traditional and the modern in a neon-inspired meditation on female energy

    ‘Embroidery For A Long Song’ // merging the traditional and the modern in a neon-inspired meditation on female energy

    ‘I rise, I run. I even try dancing’ – these are the first words one hears after being greeted by the music from ‘Khaleeji’ (the ten piece band of folk singers) in the opening scene of ‘Embroidery For A Long Song‘. This short film is a neon-inspired meditation on female energy, and it creates a bridge between the modern and traditional by examining the histories of the Gulf region through music, fashion and poetry.

    Filmmaker Amirah Tajdin  has always been fascinated by the connection between fashion and film. With designer Faissal El-Malak‘s concept for ‘Embroidery For A Long Song’ she was finally able to explore this. A few months before Faissal asked Amirah to get on board with the film, she had created a fashion film for his Spring/Summer 18 collection. They had been friends for a while, but while working on the fashion film they discovered a new kind of creative synergy. When Faissal was approached by the W Hotels and Mixcloud team a few months later to curate the Dubai edition of their Future Rising event he automatically thought of making a second film with Amirah.

    Faissal was given the broad brief to combine music with ideas about the future and a wonderland. These elements came together in his mind through nostalgic memories of the traditional music shows and concerts he used to watch on tv while growing up in the Gulf. “The sets of these shows were oddly futuristic; they created something very interesting visually where the tradition was respected and preserved within an ultra-modern context. It was sort of a wonderland where technology and an abundance of LED lights created a space to express one’s self fully. This was not a foreign concept to the way we live our daily life in a region that has seen exponential growth and has embraced very quickly modern and futuristic architecture as a norm, but that still hangs on very strongly to tradition, most notably in the way most people still wear traditional garments on a daily basis.”

    With these memories and his desire to further his knowledge about women who play traditional music, Faissal began to ask around about this practice. He was also influenced by the words and pseudonyms used by millennials who revived the tradition of spoken word poetry through platforms such as Flickr and MySpace. These pseudonyms – ‘Eye of the Gazelle’, ‘Daughter of the falcon’ and ‘The one with the khol lined eyes’ – are interpreted visually through the animated illustrations that appear at particular moments in the film. “The expression of traditional music is in itself a collaboration between sung poems, the traditional garments, beats and dances coming together to create a feast for the senses,” Faissal explained. The connection between poetry, fashion and music is intimately displayed in how the film unfolds.

    At the core of Faissal’s approach to fashion is his appreciation and celebration of Middle Eastern textiles and motifs, designing women’s ready-to-wear garments that offer combine the traditional and the modern. There is a parallel display of this in the film. A string of symbolic gestures echo this, such as the ironing and incensing of the main character’s hair and her dancing in the hall on her own. These traditional references are juxtaposed against the futuristic elements of the W Hotel hallways and neon lights. Trippy, distorted sonic encounters are merged with the instruments and chanting by Khaleeji. A poem is used as a device to narrate the film, inviting viewers into the mind of the main character.

    This film is a loud celebration and a quiet reflection all at once. It offers itself as a compilation of memories presented in a way that excites sight and sound.

    View the full film below.

  • School of Anxiety // Processes of (Un)learning in Collaborative Art Praxis

    School of Anxiety // Processes of (Un)learning in Collaborative Art Praxis

    “Whoever has learned to be anxious in the right way has learned the ultimate.”

    ― Søren Kierkegaard

    The School of Anxiety (SoA) is positioned as a collaborative space of (un)learning. Conceptually derived from psychological notions of ‘anxiety’ and references the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard’s text The Concept of Dread (1844). However, it extends beyond the space of literary and conceptual theory into artistic practice. The project facilitator and Uganda-based curator and writer, Moses Serubiri believes that ‘subjective anxieties’ relate to the societal notion and process of ‘becoming someone’ He writes, “this project is about how to essentially refuse to take on the guilt of becoming a subject: whether this is a civilized, tribalized, politicized, and radicalized subject.”

    The first iteration of the SoA took place in Johannesburg during September last year. After an immersive experience of exploring spaces like ROOM gallery, Keleketla! and the Hector Pieterson Memorial Museum, a public panel entitled What to do with anxiety? ensued. It manifested as part of the Berlin Biennale’s public program I’m not who you think I’m not. The project positions itself as a space for (un-)learning, centred on the experience of subjective anxieties and the processes of “becoming”.

    Portrait of Nyakallo Maleke by Papa Shabani

    His praxis explores “meta-narratives and scholarly practices” – transcending the perceived boundaries of art. It often probes the activation of a network of people, focusing on forming conversation with those engaged in the process. “I think of my work as trying to engage beyond the field of art and with practices and disciplines that challenge our current understanding of art.” The participating artists include Awuor Onyango, Nyakallo Maleke and Sanyu Kiyimba-Kisaka. Their inter-disciplinary approaches span video, sculpture, theatre and poetry.

    The second event was hosted in Nairobi last month. The workshop was located in Uhuru Park – often a site for national rituals. Moses describes the dynamic tension between opposition and pressure groups as visible in the proximity to Nyayo House – government buildings and a detention centre, notoriously known as the ‘Nyayo House torture chambers’. In 1992, a group of Kenyan mothers staged a hunger strike to resolve the release of their sons who had been detained as political prisoners and protest for the restoration of democratic practice.

    Portrait of Sanyu Kiyimba-Kisaka by Zahara Abdul

    This historical event was the foundation for the public performance and second SoA iteration. Moses reflects that, “it was crucial that no-trace of the performance was left, because we were not aiming at re-authoring the actual space, but rather pursue symbolic gestures that would allow us to deepen our dialogue with historic anxiety.”

    He describes the synchronicities between each workshop as conceptually tied to an exploration of autopoiesis, mourning, and obsessional doubt, as well as, “becoming immersed into a whole new environment. For both iterations we have spent majority of the time visiting places, going to museums, talking to curators, artists, writers, and cooking and shopping. The project is as much about learning as it is about unlearning.” Not being bound to the pressure of giving art in exchange for some kind of financial remuneration, “we have been able to really have meaningful exchanges that avoid the system of regurgitating and reproducing oneself into a brand of some kind. I think that the SoA members have stepped out of their usual practices to engage other ways of ‘doing’ that have emerged through a conversation.”

    A third iteration and extension of SoA will take place in July 2018 during the 10th Berlin Biennale.

  • Visualizing Privilege in the Wake of Woke // With Rebone Masemola

    I am heterosexual

    I have never been a victim of violence because of my sexuality

    I still identify as the gender I was born in.

    I never had to “come out.”

    I am a cis man.

    I have never been catcalled.

    I am white

    I was raised by both my parents

    I have never been discriminated against because of my race

    I have never gone to bed hungry.

    I have never felt poor.

    I have never had to worry about making rent.*

    Statements annunciated. Bellowed throughout the crowd. If affirmed, a step is taken forward. An articulated advantage. The starting line of life clearly left uneven – individuals pinned to peppered points of privilege. These are but a few of the points raised by Pro-Black Feminst Rebone Masemola at the last Woke Saturday as part of a ‘privilege checklist’. She used the list to visually highlight the extent and position of privilege beyond just a buzz-word.

    This gathering was one of the inaugural public events she has hosted –  intentionally fostering a safe space in which people are invited to explore ideas and issues pertinent to notions of race, privilege, sexuality, masculinity and intersectional feminism. Woke entered public discourse on a tide political consciousness. As founder of the platform, Woke Project – Rebone notes a differentiation between woke and staying woke. In a sense she believes that the popular colloquialism has been tempered down from its original embodiment of social awareness and intersectionality. Staying Woke, extends from political awakening into action and activation.

    Creating constructive discourse seems to be an important step in enacting social change. Rebone holds the policy of “open invite, open mind” and utilizes the platform to, “showcase the works of emerging thinkers, activists and creatives who address a diversity of social issues.” The programme also strives to incorporate artistic endeavors like photography and poetry to address political consciousness in an inclusive way.

    Rebone’s experience in the space of academia, advertising and activism has inspired a desire of integrating these seemingly siloed disciplines. The utilization of critical thinking as a transferable skill has allowed her to engage across this spectrum of careers. The culmination of which has manifested through Woke Project – activating space both on and offline. The platform was created as a resource to share information and personal experiences, rooted in community.

    *An extract of the Privilege Checklist by Rebone Masemola 2018

  • Chimurenga // an astonishing African resource

    Extracting from the Afrocentrism of Fela Kuti (and more than a hundred creative writers, photographers and illustrators from Africa and its diaspora), Cameroonian journalist Ntone Edjabe’s sensational media platform, Chimurenga, aims to enrich, nuance and stretch the portrayal of the African continent so “who no know go know”.

    Meaning “revolutionary struggle” in Zimbabwe’s Shona language, Chimurenga takes various forms in order to present the complexities of African lives and their discourses. Its outputs include: a quarterly gazette called The Chronic; the Chimurenga Library – an independent collection of pan-African periodicals and personal books; the African Cities Reader – a biennial publication on an urban African lifestyle; the Pan African Space Station – an online radio station and pop-up studio; and the award winning publication of culture, art and politics – the Chimurenga Magazine.

    Initially published in 2002, the Chimurenga magazine is an enthralling collection of essays, reports, fiction, photography, cartoons, poetry, manifestoes, and art that not only produce new knowledge but intentionally speaks to the intensities of the world.

    “[Chimurenga is] an experience”, explained Edjabe. Historically, African life has had a single narrative, which has been deeply rooted in global consciousness. Africa as poor. Africa as the victim. Africa as dependent. “The moment you add a degree of complexity to it, it throws people off”. It is this divergence from the single African story that makes Chimurenga provocative and enticing. With hundreds of brilliant contributors, Chimurenga is able to produce content that is innovative in the creation of African narratives, which are in essence anti-colonial. The publications enlightening content has grabbed a global audience and earned the prestigious Prince Claus Award.

    The website has some content but the magazine holds the true pan-African treasures. You can order a copy online and hard copies are distributed throughout Africa, Europe, the USA and India. The Cape-Town based offices are open to submissions from potential contributors that are willing to stimulate pan-African culture by imparting themselves and their experiences through intellect, freedom and diversity.

  • Nick Mulgrew on writing, publishing and unearthing literary gems

    Buckle up, we’re getting meta about writing here – this is an article where a writer writes about writing and the reality of being a writer, taking time to reflect on the state of the writing industry within South Africa. In an attempt to engage the issues that young writers, wanting to start their own publishing companies or wanting to self-publish, face, we turned to an individual who has been navigating the terrain for some time now.

    Nick Mulgrew is a writer, and due to feeling that “the publishing industry was failing both writers and readers” he began to initiate projects and form publishing avenues for others like himself. For, “how can I flourish if the publishing industry and our country’s reading culture aren’t?” These projects include Prufrock Magazine, where Nick is now the fiction editor and designer; uHlanga, an award-winning poetry press, where Nick is founder and publisher, and publishing the bestselling collection, ‘Collective Amnesia‘ by Koleka Putuma.

    The result of these endeavours has been to help unearth writers and launch their careers at Prufrock; writers such as Simone Haysom and Lidudumalingani, some of whose first literary work appeared in the magazine. uHlanga has managed to bring poetry into the mainstream again, bringing poetry into places where poetry usually hasn’t been considered of much importance. Koleka’s book, which was named one of City Press’s Books of the Year, was one of the main catalysts for that.

    In terms of managing both a business and a career as a writer, Nick offered some very practical advice, saying, “The secret is being productive, not busy. I divide my working day in two, roughly. In the morning, I work on one project, then I go to gym or have lunch or run my errands or whatever, and in the afternoon and evening I work on another.”

    An already accomplished author, Nick’s own writing has to do with “deconstructing and looking at South Africa’s dysfunctional society, especially in the ways it is riven by racism, sexism, homophobia and so on. That’s not to say my work is always serious in tone. ‘Stations‘ is a book that deals primarily with the everyday ways in which people make negative impacts on their lives and the lives of other people; ‘The First Law of Sadness‘ has to do with larger events: catastrophes, spectacle, grand moments. Some people might say those descriptions sound boring, which they are in contrast to the subjects I write about – like pornography, making biltong out of roadkill, tattoo removal – but those are the underlying mechanics that give life to the entertainment and the emotion.”

    Nick’s passion and commitment to his craft were immediately picked up through our correspondence. He sharpens his craft through practice. I quote: “If you want to get good at rapping, you rap. If you want to get good at painting, you paint. Writing is no different: I hone my writing by writing. I don’t take cues from other writers, but I’m always influenced by my reading.”

    Ending off, Nick had some words of wisdom for local emerging writers; “I wouldn’t say that they should just read, because what you read matters just as much as whether you read. You should read as much local writing as possible, because it’s impossible to make an impact on your literary community if you’re not listening to what artists around you are producing and engaging with.”

  • 10 years of Moonchild

    “My mom has special powers, she sees stuff before it happens. So she’s an inyanga [healer in Xhosa]. Inyanga also means the moon, so instead of being a child of a healer I choose the moon. It’s about being the child of someone with a special gift,” explains Moonchild Sanelly when asked about her stage name. Born in the Eastern Cape, she was surrounded by jazz thanks to her mother who was a jazz singer and owned a jazz tavern. Weekends were spent at her grandmother’s home where her cousins who were Kwaito dancers would practice. Along with hip hop, these were the sounds she was exposed to as a child.

    Moonchild Sanelly always had a desire to be on stage. Singing and dancing from a young age it was in high school that she formed a group with a few of her friends and started performing Spice Girls covers at school assemblies. “I was a stage kid. I don’t remember thinking about becoming a singer one day. It was just one of those things, I’m going to be on stage, period.”

    Moving to Durban in 2005 to study fashion, her first performances were as a poet in 2006. While she can’t remember being introduced as anything else other than Moonchild, officially  Moonchild the artist was born in 2007.  Instead of trying to fit into the typical rhyme scheme or poetry mold she would let the characters she became on stage guide her performances. This led her to getting a regular slot on King Siso’s show on Kakasi FM. Already as a poet she was already subconsciously engaging with acts of female empowerment. “There was always some form of empowerment, without even me knowing I was empowering. I was just standing up for women. It was just me being myself.“

    Moonchild Sanelly describes her bold style as ghetto funk, a combination of music, fashion and dance. Her performances are energetic and sexy, with Moonchild Sanelly never standing still. Explaining her performances Moonchild says that, “this is how you lose your mind. This is when you lose your morals. This is when you are just free. And then you bring out the girl you always are.” Her lyrics are in a mixture of Xhosa and English and are a reflection of her authentic voice. “It’s literally the way I speak so I’m super expressive that way.“

    The past year has seen her collaborate with a variety of artists which she views as an opportunity to expose people to her music that would otherwise have not been exposed to her work. “I don’t want to change my sound. I want to be myself. But then there are people that will never be exposed to that.” The approach seems to be paying off as more people are starting to take note of her talents. “It’s working out nicely because now people hear one verse in a feature and they go back to the actual album. They know my music because the verse in the feature is already different.“

    Her long list of collaborations include three tracks on DJ Maphorisa’s upcoming compilation, including a track with Shimza  and DJ Maphorisa as well as one with Rude Boyz. Meanwhile her current single ‘F- Boyz’ is getting the grime treatment and will be released in the UK. She’s also got a track with Japan-based Weird Together alongside Kwesta coming out, while her track with Original Swimming Party, ‘Biggest Curse’, is getting an international release. Finally her track ‘Yhu’ with The Kiffness is currently on radio rotation. “There’s a lot of music,” says Moonchild excitedly.

    With so much music in the works an album is not a priority for Moonchild at the moment. “I feel like the features I’ve got are an album on their own. Before I even drop anything. I’ve no pressure to drop an album for next year. I’m definitely doing EPs.” Next year also sees Moonchild going on tour. While several destinations are on the cards, London is confirmed. With her voice reaching so many markets it’s only matter of time before Moonchild Sanelly becomes a household name.

    Credits:

    Photography & styling by Jamal Nxedlana

    Hair & makeup by Orli Oh

    Styling assistant – Lebogang Ramfate

  • In Bloom // Not just another white cube exhibition

    In Bloom is Ja.’s first exhibition held at the KZNSA Gallery. The exhibition features 11 South African artists but what differentiates it from the traditional exhibition is that each featured artist’s work received a personalized backdrop. I spoke to the curators for the exhibition, Niamh Walsh-Vorster, Youlendree Appasamy and Dave Mann to find out more about the featured artists, their curatorial strategy for the exhibition as well as the work on display

    The team tells me that the exhibition came about after their launch of their free studio and workshop space within The Green Camp Gallery. After this launch, they joked about doing an exhibition that became a serious goal for them and was met with the generous sharing of space and resources provided by the KZNSA gallery. They continue to tell me that they decided to pursue the idea to have their first exhibition, as they wanted to move from an URL space to an irl space.

    Expressing that there is no overarching concept for the exhibition the team explains that the works featured celebrate a variety of art forms such as poetry, short stories, paintings, illustrations, films, photography, and graffiti. Having read the artists’ statements, however, I feel like there is a definite link to artists creating work that speak about topics such as sexism, identity as well as mental health.

    ‘Fantasma’ by Hannah Shone

    This is illustrated for example when looking at the artist’s statement by Nosipho Nxele where she explains her work ‘Shared Greatness’ as follows, “The greatest threat to women and by extension humanity is the growth and acceptance of male chauvinistic, illiberal and brutal culture of hawkishness. This system then requires that women raise up their voices to empower themselves and those without any voice to fight against society’s systems that belittle women. Meaning we are greater together than apart. My inspiration [for the piece] was drawn from the great saying of Pakistani activist for female education, Malala Yousafzai: ‘I raise up my voice – not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. We cannot succeed when half of us are held back’. The illustration embodies the spirit and passion of Mahala.” This statement speaks not only of sexism but feminine identity as well as solidarity among women.

    The team tell me that the title of the exhibition ‘In Bloom’ was chosen as the artists’ work in the exhibition represents an exploration and engagement with one’s identity. “Coming into bloom is a difficult act but the bloom itself is a beautiful thing. Even though some of the work unpacks uncomfortable themes it’s through the experiences of young artists who are finding imaginative ways of expression.” The title is also a reflection of the opening during spring, a time that flowers are in bloom.

    Artists for the exhibition were selected by medium and geographic region as an attempt to showcase work that was as far reaching as possible by means of concept and geographical location of the artists.

    ‘Blazers’ by Shalom Mushwana

    When asked about the curatorial strategy that was followed for this exhibition they explain that the exhibition features both written and visual work and expresses that finding a way to situate literature within a conventionally visual space was a fun challenge for them. They continue to explain that written works were incorporated in the form of postcards, small zines, a poem draped down a stairway entrance of the Mezzanine and film-based work created by the guest visual editor, Mandisa Buthelezi.

    Focussing on various points of entry and layouts for visual works they experimented with placement for the works that fell under this category. With the help of graffiti artist, Kev Sevin backdrops were painted for each artist’s work allowing them to come into their own as distinct clusters the team expresses. This strategy alone lends a different element to the ‘In Bloom’ exhibition and aids in tying the work rather seamlessly.

    The team express their hopes for ‘In Bloom’ as follows, “We hope that it contributes to the careers of the artists involved, as well as inspires more artists to create new work. And also, to show that it’s possible to pull off an exhibition on a shoestring budget that’s successful and engaging without the usual white cube nonsense.”

    ‘In Bloom’ opened on the 26 September ran up until the 15 October in the Mezzanine space at the KZNSA gallery in Durban. Featured artists included Robyn Perros, Hannah Shone, Nosipho Nxele, Shalom Mushwana, Dani O’Neill, Andy Mkosi, Maya Surya Pillay, Werner Goss-Ross, Kev Sevin and Julie Nxadi with a visual adaptation of ‘This is Not a Sad Story’.

    ‘Rat Dog’ and ‘Existential Zebra’ by Werner Goss-Ross

  • Maya the Poet becomes Sho Madjozi!: Tsonga rap and the preservation of home

    Maya has always been a writer. She has always been interested in different kinds of writing. However, because she is young and is a woman of colour, she felt that she was boxed into the persona of a spoken word poet. For a long time she felt the pressure to just be Maya the Poet. But at the same time, she was writing raps.

    Caught up in this box she felt she had been pushed into, Maya never imagined that she could become a rapper but she did want something to come of the rap she was able to write. So she had the idea that she would become a ghostwriter. With that decision she contacted one of her favourites in the industry, Okmalumkoolkat. After sending through some of her verses, they decided to work together. Maya was excited to work with him on his upcoming album, Mlazi Milano. “So I showed up at studio and he was like ‘Are you ready to hop on the song?’ and I was like ‘No’. And he said ‘Wait aren’t you a rapper?’ And I said ‘No’. So he goes ‘Are you a singer?’ and I said ‘No’. So he says ‘Why are you here?’ and I said ‘To write’ you know. And he says ‘For who?!’”. Amused by her own boldness in offering to write for Okmalumkoolkat, she clearly realized that the ghostwriting thing was not going to happen. So she took to the mic and became the voice for her own verses. She confessed to me that rapping was something she had always wanted to do, and so being featured on three of Okmalumkoolkat’s tracks added fuel to a fire that had been burning inside her for a while. She will be featured on the album by her rapper stage name Sho Madjozi!. Even more special for her, is the fact that she raps in her home language, Tsonga. “I think it [Tsonga] sounds really dope on rap! And it has never been explored in the way that I am doing now,” Maya explained when describing the rhythmic qualities that Tsonga holds. Coming from the small rural of Shirley in Limpopo, she explains how people are confused by her audacity to rap in Tsonga. However, she is determined to take her language and culture with her, and “swag it out”. She is also encouraged by the idea that people from her home will be excited to hear their own words in mainstream music.

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    In sticking with taking home with her, at the album preview for Mlazi Milano, Sho Madjozi performed in her xibelani, the traditional skirt worn for the dance also referred to as xibelani. For her the skirt stands as a symbol of her identity but is also a sign that her culture is not frozen in time. Through telling me the evolution of the xibelani skirt, she articulates how this is an indication of the evolution of her culture. This ties into her philosophy of integrating “Africanness” into our everyday lives. “I don’t like this notion that we come to Joburg and we become these other people…When you miss some aspect of yourself or you miss your food, you have to go out to the village or township and find it… Traditional attire must not be relegated to public holidays,” Maya expressed. She highlighted that she wants to grow her culture and wants to interrogate what it means to be an African today.

    She has also recently become the Africa rep for New York-film company Flourish and Multiply which involves organizing people for the company to work with, as well as being an assistant director in some of their projects on the continent. Maya has also become the youngest person to be awarded the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study Writing Fellowship. Re-thinking what a fellowship should be used for, she pitched to write a film which will be based in Limpopo around her village. Adding to her mixed bag of projects, she will soon be launching a line of bags under the label Machagani (@machaganibags). What ties all of her work together is reminding people of colour that our languages and cultures “are dope”.

    Be sure to have a listen to the tracks she is featured on in Okmalumkoolkat’s upcoming album Mlazi Milano. Sho Madjozi herself is trying to create a sound that is a combination of Tsonga and trap. She also let us in on the fact that she will be working on an EP title “My life is a movie” to be released sometime next year. Check out @shomadjozi on Instagram and @mayawegerif on Twitter to keep up to date with her work.

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