Bubblegum Club

Tag: Tshepiso Mabula

  • Cherrie Bomb // exhibiting the effects of the male on the female

    Cherrie Bomb // exhibiting the effects of the male on the female

    This is not an attempt to fight the man.

    Nor is it an attempt to latch onto social campaigns like #MenAreTrash and #MeToo.

    Cherrie Bomb is a collection of lived experiences that express what it feels like to be a womxn in a patriarchal society.

    Curated by Nthabiseng Lethoko for Umuzi’s First Thursdays, Cherrie Bomb aims to interrogate and shed light on the norms of patriarchy and toxic masculinity. For a female audience, the exhibition is supposed to be representative and voice the daily subjugation of the female body. For the male audience, the exhibition is meant to be the mirror that prompts self-examination. Ultimately, the exhibition aims to demystify the severe effects that male dominance has over womxn.

    The pieces featured in the exhibition are all by womxn.

    ‘Safe Space’ by Botshelo Mondi & Motshewa Khaiyane

    Botshelo Mondi and Motshew Khaiyane explored the creation of safe spaces. The threat of patriarchy is an accepted norm in every public and private environment and the female body in particular is affected as a result. Essentially, this body of work titled, Safe Space, seeks to express the problems or politics of space as well as the subtlety and pervasive nature of patriarchy. The work comes from visualising patriarchy as a physical mass that occupies and intrudes in a way that marginalises and overlooks its victims.

    In Boitumelo Mazibuko’s Lobola photographs, she captures how this traditional ceremony places value on her, value that she did not consent to, which ultimately makes her a possession. Even though the beauty of the ceremony is acknowledged through its celebration of the women joining her partner’s family, the  treatment of her as an asset can lead to her demise.

    ‘Lobola’ by Boitumelo Mazibuko

    Basetsana Maluleka and Nompumelelo Mdluli interrogate the accountability that womxn are supposed to have for men’s actions and expectations in The Constant.

    Tshepiso Mabula examines how the male gaze has made the female figure subservient and an unimportant item placed on the periphery through her work titled The Gaze. This work aims to shift this portrayal and show women as defiant figures that reject patriarchal standards by defiling the female figure.

    ‘The Gaze’ by Tshepiso Mabula

    Lastly, Thakirah Allie’s Hey Sexy is a multimedia series documenting the everyday phenomena of street harassment and catcalling. Since 2016, the project has developed and infested from sharing the artist’s own experiences of it, to that of other young girls and womxn in and around the public spaces of Cape Town.

    Regardless of gender, we are accustomed to the expectations and consequences of patriarchy. Toxic masculinity, a distressing by-product of the system, has daily repercussions for anything and anyone unlike it. The necessity of this exhibition is undeniable and the conversations it intends to spark will be vital to reimagining our society.

    Cherrie Bomb’s first exhibition took place in Cape Town and will soon be in Johannesburg during another Umuzi’s First Thursdays.

    ‘The Constant’ by Basetsana Maluleka & Nompumelelo Mdluli

  • Muse: exploring female agency in art

    Real quick, grab a dictionary or google search the word “muse”. What came up? Something about a woman being the source of creative inspiration? Or maybe something about a he pondering about a she? Well, the word “muse” has been foundational to art and in turn male artists hold females as their source of creative genius. Think about it, how many masterpieces are there of women by men? Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Pablo Picasso’s Weeping Woman or Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, the list is actually endless. So isn’t it ironic that two men, Odendaal Estherhuyse and Ramoloti Kganakga, decided to curate an exhibition called, MUSE: exploring female agency in art?

    Odendaal and Ramoloti deeply interrogated their male privilege as creative men and the ease in which they consciously and unconsciously assume a sense of control when representing women. During this process of interrogation, there was a realisation that women are not overtly afforded the same creative assertiveness as men. Odendaal and Ramoloti developed the idea of showcasing black female artists and teamed up with Vuyiswa Xekatwane for much needed black girl guidance.

    Muse-6380

    The collaborative effort resulted in an exhibition that showcased the work of black female artists: Tshepiso Mabula, Puleng Mongale, Boitumleo Mazibuko, Nozipho Nxele and Rita Kantu in Braamfontein on 2 March.

    Odendaal explained how the Western ideals of the word “muse” differ in the mind of a black South African woman and in the African context too. This exhibition showcased the creative expression of black female artists and how their creative inspirations definitely differed from the ideals of the West. Moreover, the art spoke of the experience of  black women by black women. A space was created for black women to express themselves and be at the centre of  their narrative. This space also afforded men the opportunity to engage and experience the power of female agency in art.

    The artists are all Umuzi recruits and Alumni. Odendaal, Ramoloti and Vuyiswa too are part of Umuzi. Umuzi is a creative organisation that aims to transform the creative industry with its learnership that improves the access to creative education and careers.

    For more from Umuzi check out their Facebook, Instagram or visit their website.

    Muse-6326

     

    Muse-6384