DON’T MISS
Bodies in Alliance //Politics of the Street by Marinella Senatore: In 2012 five members of the Russian protest punk group Pussy Riot demonstrated against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reelection. In 2018 they dressed like police officers and invaded the Fifa World Cup finals in Moscow. In response to the censorship of artists in Russia, Marinella Senatore presents a body of work featuring drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures that tell the story of the Pussy Riot collective. Details: The exhibition runs until March 23 at SMAC Gallery, 145 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town. For more information visit smacgallery.com
Huawei Kday: Kfm and Huawei bring a selection of artists such as Mi Casa, Goodluck, Lady Zamar, Youngsta CPT, The Kiffness, DJ Kent, Jamali and Chad Saaiman into the winelands for a fun day in the sun. Details: The festival takes place on March 2 at the Meerendal Wine Estate, Vissershok Road, Durbanville. Tickets cost R40 and can be purchased from Computicket. For more information visit meerendal.co.za
Working from the Inside by Belinda Blignaut: This conceptual and experimental artist uses her performance and sculpting work to comment on the social and political uncertainty of South Africa. Details: The exhibition takes place until April 26 at the SMAC Art Gallery, Church Street, Stellenbosch. For more information visit smacgallery.com
Dance Umbrella Africa launch: Under the theme Figure-ring — The State of the Dance in Africa, the Dance Umbrella festival will investigate an array of dance genres from isipantsula to classical, contemporary, dance theatre and performance art. Talks will be facilitated by the likes of Eddie Ndou, Lulu Mlangeni, Julia Burnham and Sonia Radebe. Details: The launch takes place on March 3 at the State Theatre, 320 Pretorius Street, Pretoria. Tickets cost R100 and are available from webticket. co.za. For more information visit statetheatre.co.za
Surviving Loss: Using song and poetry, this play based on a book by Busisiwe
Mahlangu, looks at the idea of confronting the past to heal from it. Note that there is an under-13 age limit. Details: The show takes place on March 1 and March 2 at the State Theatre. Tickets cost R30 and are available from webticket.co.za. For more information visit statetheatre.co.za Ubuhle Bekhiwane Ziimpethu by Ayanda Mabulu: This exhibition of new paintings and sculptures looks at resisting the fetishised realm of blackness. Details: The exhibition runs until March 2 at the Kalashnikovv Gallery, 70 Juta Street, Johannesburg. For more information visit kalashnikovv. co.za
Desmond and the Tutus: One of South Africa’s indie rock bands, Desmond and the Tutus bring their fans a night of live music. Details: The show will take place on March 1 at Rumours Rock City, corner of Weltevreden Road and Valley Avenue, Randburg. Tickets cots R80 and can be purchased from quicket.co.za
Flamebook: Written by Xolisa Ngubelanga and directed by Simphiwe Kaya, this performance replays incidents when an oppressed people have used fire as a weapon in the struggle. Details: The performance runs until
March 3 at the POP Art Centre, 286 Fox Street, Johannesburg. Tickets cost R100 to R120. To book tickets or for more information visit popartcentre.co.za
Design Indaba: This annual conference is a platform for career insights and cutting-edge work in the design industry. Details: The event takes place until March 1 at various venues in Cape Town with simulcasts in Johannesburg and Durban. Tickets cost R1 620 to R8 715 and are available from webticket.co.za. For more information visit designindaba.com
Suitcase Show: In collaboration with Galleria Massimo Minini, SMAC Gallery presents the work of painters Kate Gottgens, Paul P, Albert Samson and Simon Stone. Details: The exhibition runs until March 23 at SMAC Gallery, 145
Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town. For more information visit smacgallery.com
Details:
markettheatre.co.za It was on a cloudy morning in the winter of 2011 at my grandmother’s home in Wembezi, Estcourt, that I shot this image. A ceremony honouring our ancestors was to take place later on.
As my uncle, Ndabezinhle Thabethe, a sangoma, stood outside his room, which holds umsamo, the washing line and neighbouring apartheid-era built homes behind him, I knew I had to capture the moment. I called out to him, “Malume”, and as he looked at me, I took the shot.
He is a private person who doesn’t like being photographed but, as his favourite niece, he happily obliges every time. I think he loves that I show interest in both in him and his calling, and trusts me to use his images with respect.
I was struck by his quiet balancing of the two worlds he manoeuvres through on a daily basis. As a proud Zulu man with patriarchal beliefs, he would never be caught dead wearing anything deemed effeminate. And yet here he is wearing ibhayi with no issue. Ibhayi is compulsory for a sangoma when talking to the ancestors. It’s often looked at as a makeshift skirt by the general public. Despite this, my uncle is comfortable wearing it all day, showing the amount of reverence he has for amadlozi.
I’ve always been interested in the stories, people and history behind photographs. Raised by my grandparents, I hardly saw my mother because she worked far away, and so some parts of her were a mystery to me. As a child her photographs helped me to solve some of this mystery. I would look through her photos and see the life she lived and how she lived it. The photos became a way for me to better understand who she was as an individual over and above being my mom. That interest in the life and times of my mother led to an interest in capturing the life and times of the people around me.
I started taking photos keenly in about 2012 on whatever phone I was using at that time. Initially all my photos were centred on those close to me. This shifted in 2014 when I started taking street shots of the Johannesburg city centre while catching a taxi to university. I would take a window seat and wherever I saw a story or interesting person, I would shoot away. In the taxi on my way home, I would use Photoshop Express to edit the photos from the day, mainly to black-and-white, and share them online. The response was great, encouraging me to share more. I am currently shooting with both an iphone and a film camera (Canon Canonet QL17), which I am teaching myself how to use.
The weekend I shot this particular photo of my uncle, I had access to a friend’s camera and was excited to explore the world around me with it. It was a Fujifilm Finepix S1850 set on black-and-white mode. The camera was pretty light to handle, red in colour — which was pretty unique — and the settings were easy to understand.
I prefer black-and-white photography because it removes the noise contained in colour, and allows better study of the subject. My focus tends to be more on the story I want to convey rather than technical aspects, as I am self-taught.
Here, I see the contrast between black and white as mirroring the internalised spiritual contradictions that most African children grow up with as a result of being raised in Christian homes. The struggle between what the West says is true and what we, as Africans, innately know to be true. Growing up, I too was heavily indoctrinated into Christianity and amadlozi were a distant, less important aspect of my spiritual rearing. In fact, the teachings I received called for the rubbishing of anything related to amadlozi.
This image is important to me because it represents the day I made a conscious decision to open myself up to learning about and respecting amadlozi and the ways Africans connect to our creator.
It also helped me to realise that I wanted to tell stories about the real and raw experiences of being black in South Africa. Stories to help us dilute the constructed perception of who we should be, a perception that the Western lens has used to define us for so long.
Photo title: Thokoza Gogo