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Coexistence: Contemporary Cultural Production in South Africa (review)
- Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art
- Duke University Press
- Number 18, Spring/Summer 2003
- pp. 92-93
- Review
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
COEXI ST ENCE: Co n t e m p o r a r y Cul t ur al Pr o d u c t i o n i n So u t h Af r i ca The Rose Art Museum , Brandeis Universit y, January 22 - June 2 9 , 2 0 0 3 Them bi kosi Goni w e, (b. 1971, Cape Town), Unt it led f rom Ret urning t he Gaze Billboard Proj ect, 2000, 2 digit al print s (The exhibit ion will also be at t he Sout h African Nat ional Gallery, Sept ember 2003-March 2004) There are var i ous "c o- s" t hat appear in t he exhi bi t i on Coexist ence, compel l ing one t o quest i on t he connot at i ons of t hi s seemi ngl y i nnocuous pref ix. Frequent l y "c o - " i ndi cat es mut ual i t y —a j oi ni ng t oget her of ef f ort s such as t he co-cur at or shi p of Pamela Allara (Brandeis Uni ver si t y), and Marilyn Mart in and Zola Mt shiza (Sout h Af rican Nat ional GaLlery). However, when t he concept of coexist ence is relat ed t o a nat i on, it suggest s a mut ual t ol er ance t hr ough t he very expression of i deol ogi cal divergence . As art ist Thembi nkosi Goniwe poi gnant l y assert s, t hi s is precisely how people lived during apar t hei d: t hey merely coexist ed. * Coexist ence, t hen, is not an exhi bi t i on about post -apar t hei d ut opia, nor does it pret end t o be so. I n her cat al ogue essay Allara writ es t hat coexist ence refers t o an "uneasy t ruce t hat exist s i n cont emporary Sout h A f r i c a . I n a broader cont ext i t seems t o al so reflect t he uneasy rel at ionshi p bet ween privil eged i nst i t ut i ons t hat showcase Af rican art , and art ist s w ho seek i nt er nat i onal exposur e w i t hout bei ng pegged as r epr esent at i ve Af ricans. This di scomf or t greet s t he viewer head-on wit h Goni we 's bil l board t hat hangs i n t he ent rance, where t he art ist couples an enor mous phot ogr aph of himsel f wit h t hat of Mal col m Payne. While Payne's st are drif t s int o t he dist ance, Goniwe's eyes pierce t he viewer, t acit l y posi ng t he quest i on, when are we goi ng t o have 'post - r aci sm '?"^ This billboard was exhibit ed on t he st reet s of Cape Town i n t he 2000 public art s proj ect "Ret urning t he Gaze." In Massachuset t s, Goniwe def iant ly count ers t he gaze of l ocal vi ew er s, conf ront ing t he not i on t hat a black Sout h Af rican art ist is of t en, t o t he West , "an absurd n ov e l t y — always i n i nvent i on and r ei nvent i on by t hose i n posi t i ons of aut horit y. ^ Having crossed t hi s t hr eshol d of complicit y, t he viewer ent ers i nt o t hree large rooms, each of which sust ai ns t he coexist ence of predominant t hemes. The f irst room appears t o connect t ext and oralit y, a pert inent pairing for a nat ion expl oring r evi si oni st hist ory. On one of her delicat e linen Colonial Tray Clot...