Bopape’s exhibition celebrates chorale music
Conceptualist is trying to find a story within a story in ‘Sa Kosha Ke Lerole’
In her latest exhibition Sa Kosha Ke Lerole, conceptualist Dineo Seshee Bopape is trying to find a story within a story.
The multimedia exhibition that consists of a series of reflections, music videos and collage, is on at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown until Sunday.
Bopape’s exhibition follows the history of the Polokwane Chorale Society, which was previously known as the Seshego Chorale Society.
Polokwane-born Bopape says the concept was inspired by the choir because both her parents are founding members. Her mother was director and conductor of the choir for many years. The group was founded in 1977 and still continues to entertain although members have been changing over the years.
The story is told simply with pictures and text, but Bopape questions what people don’t see with “the naked eye”.
“I am not sure myself what I am looking for although I know the concept is about the choir. I am looking to find a story within in a story,” she says.
“The work seeks to celebrate the choir and its rich history. It has been part of my life through my mother. I am trying to archive their history.”
She questions a lot, including the identity and sense of ownership by choir members and followers. She also looks at how its identity has changed over the years.
“Depending on how you interact with the piece, there is so much information around it. There is a sense of ownership by those who are part of it and the supporters. Having grown up with chorale music, it evokes my first ideas of positive representation while acting as a nostalgic memory of a community held within the music.”
The 36-year-old Bopape, who is based in Johannesburg, plans to explore this subject.
She exhibited the first part of her work, which combines digital, analogue aesthetic and elements such as plants and soil last year in New York .
She has also exhibited in places such as the Hayward Gallery in London, the Mart House Gallery in Amsterdam, and the Art Berlin Contemporary in Berlin.
She was named the 2017 Standard Bank Young Artist for performance art. Bopape won the SmartArt Award in 2015 and was the runner-up for the 2014 RolexArt Award.
She has participated in group exhibitions at the Marrakech Biennale 6 in Morocco, the Bienial de São Paulo, Brazil, the Tate Modern in London and Centre for Visual Art in Denver, US.