Bubblegum Club

Tag: urban

  • Rights of Admission Reserved // How Gentrification and art washing can destroy the social capital of space

    Rights of Admission Reserved // How Gentrification and art washing can destroy the social capital of space

    When you are tucked comfortably into Johannesburg’s Northern suburbs, the word of inner city enclaves that accommodate you and your neighbours is enthralling. So you make that journey – it’s towering buildings, that one bridge and with every red light, you cautiously gaze at the dense bustle of unfamiliarity. With one turn, the stark difference of your destination will assure you know that you have arrived. Almost every other person will have a takeaway coffee cup in hand and you will be left to figure out of all the cafes on every corner, which actually serves the best flat white. There will probably be an art gallery or two, maybe even three. Black boys will be skateboarding between cars trying to find a parking spot and you will wonder why they can’t use the empty bicycle lanes instead. The weekend market that you most likely came all this way for sells craft beer, artisans baked goods, cold meats, and overpriced international and local cuisine. Once that gets old, there will be a steak house or a concept store stocking local apparel or a pop up juice or gin bar that you can drop by. As you pose for a photo with the street art, you admire the luxury apartments and hired security guards and imagine a life here. Your visit will probably end in a dimly lit bar with an even darker dance floor. When you arise the day after, you will be certain of the lackluster of suburbia so you decorate your Instagram page with this colourful experience and encourage more of your friends to join next weekend.

    Surely, it’s not far fetched to imagine that visits to enclaves in Johannesburg’s inner city are something like that for the people that those spaces have been designed for?

    Familiar with suburban life myself, the city was marketed in a way that confused my understanding of gentrification and rendered it simplistic. To be clear, gentrification is basically when people of a higher income or status relocate to or invest in a low income (and typically “urban”) neighbourhood. The aim is to capitalise on the low property values and in doing so the property value is inflated. This results in the original occupants of the neighbourhood being displaced because they cannot afford to live there anymore.

    Moreover, this re-development of particular enclaves is culture led. Even though buy-to-leave investors seek to hollow out the neighbourhood through gentrification, there are certain landmarks that are salvageable and add to the authenticity of the space. However, through the curation of the space, the culture and character of the neighbourhood is altered. Everything that made that neighbourhood culturally unique is demolished. Consider it a social cleansing. Despite the occupants that have been economically excluded from the space, original visitors that frequented the space will slowly disappear because the social fabric has been gentrified.

    The space now culturally barren uses art as a substitute for culture. Hence the street art and influx of galleries. According to academic art historian, Stephen Pritchard, this “complex deception” is referred to as “Artwashing”.  Artwashing is basically art in the service of gentrification, which ultimately destroys the social capital of a space.

    The establishment of galleries has become frightening because soon after, the gentrification begins. Think the corner of Bolton road and Jan Smuts, a block parallel to an art gallery, which now houses overpriced international cuisine and a sneaker store. Think Keyes avenue – affordable flats were replaced by a mile of eclectic restaurants, a noteworthy bar, sneaker stores, and luxury boutiques to neighbour the art galleries.

    In gentrified enclaves around the world, the prevalence of artwashing has seen the rise to protests by artists themselves. Considering the mainstream rhetoric of the financial status of an artist, how can their work be used to manifest into the spatial expression of economic inequality? Personally, I have not witnessed Johannesburg’s interrogation of arts use in the reconstruction of a space and its culture. One thing that is for sure is that it is happening as the authentic culture of various spaces is being compromised in the name of capitalism.

  • Transdisciplinary conversations on the realities of urbanness // Dr Njoki Ngumi to take part in the African Mobilities’ Johannesburg Exchange

    Transdisciplinary conversations on the realities of urbanness // Dr Njoki Ngumi to take part in the African Mobilities’ Johannesburg Exchange

    Dr Njoki Ngumi wears many hats in roles that stretch across various fields. As a result the word she uses to describe herself is “maker”, emphasising that her work transcends genre and medium. Her background in healthcare has helped her to cultivate her curiosity and care for small details, and this has continued to be useful to her in the arts space.

    As a storyteller, she is currently obsessed with what can be obtained through collaboration and collective effort. “It’s been played to its tired cliché end on SO many mediocre TV programs, but truly? Groups of unlikely people achieving unlikely things is the whole entire wave. Nothing gimmicky – just mapping how people build bridges to each other and love and fight and love again, as they set large fires and take many names. I did an odd little thread once on Twitter that was about an elite cadre of femme/fem assassins, and a surprising number of people really loved it, and it was about just that – odd, fierce, unexpected togethernesses.”

    Her storytelling style is in constant evolution. She loves drama, distance and spectacle, but is also wary of how this can sometimes privilege the story over allowing audiences to engage. On the other hand, she also enjoys more intimate weavings that require the audience’s participation in some way, resulting in a new energy or story at the end. Through this reflection, Njoki tries to find the balance in her storytelling to invite audiences into the worlds she creates or mirrors.

    Another one of Njoki ‘s endeavors is her position as Head of Learning and Development at HEVA, an East African fund that invests in the transformative social and economic potential of the creative economy within the region. The development of HEVA Capital and HEVA Forum address the questions of how creative enterprises can get access to credit and how an enabling, progressive environment can be created for these businesses to grow. Within these two spaces, Njoki identifies knowledge gaps and interesting possibilities, and figures out ways in which creative enterprises can access them.

    Working across disciplines is an important part of how Njoki frames her practice. Therefore, co-founding the Nest Collective was a no-brainer. She did  this in collaboration with 11 other  members, namely Olivia Ambani, Hope Bii, Jim Chuchu, Sunny Dolat, George Gachara, Njeri Gitungo, Kendi Kamwambia, Noel Kasyoka, Akati Khasiani, Mars and Wakiuru Njuguna. As a collective they are “a making, building multidisciplinary arts squad based in Nairobi that drops cultural bombs and then wears overalls to sort through the debris.” The collective was formed in reaction to the fact that mainstream spaces did not have room for audiences who were craving an engagement with work that is risky, quirky and odd. Since its inception in 2012 the collective has made films, visual art, music, work in fashion and write books. Each member of the collective has their area of expertise, but together they have built a think tank and creative melting pot for themselves. Through their collective they explore modern identities, re-imagine their pasts and remix their futures. Connected to this is how they unpack what it means to be young, contemporary and urban, as well as the possibilities of casting away existing scripts and design new outcomes.

    Njoki has been invited to be one of the hosts for the Johannesburg Exchange under African Mobilities. This has an organic connection to the other projects and roles that she takes on. “AM [African Mobilities] is about transdisciplinary conversations, negotiating the vagaries and glories of urbanness and challenging realities with communities and collaboration, and this is already a huge part of the Nest’s – and my own – practice.” Her work fits so seamlessly into the agenda for the Johannesburg Exchange, and African Mobilities as a whole, that Njoki will be doing a public performance reading at the Exchange.

    Reflecting on the importance of African Mobilities and the Exchanges they have hosted in multiple cities, Njoki stated that, “One of the most magic things about it is its determination to break knowledge and data out of ivory towers and bring it out directly to the people. We’re at a time now when knowledge sharing is possible in new and unprecedented ways because of the internet, but in many ways guides and people to open out and explore and explain new things in new ways are still so essential. That’s what AM is building, together with prioritizing multiple African perspectives.”

    The Johannesburg Exchange is taking place from 22-24 February at Wits University and African Flavour Books in Braamfontein.