“Everything can be used. Except what is wasteful. You will need to remember this when you are accused of destruction.” Audre Lorde I was having a conversation with a friend about art — wondering out loud — what is this for? What does it do? Why do we do all of this stuff? Nothing more…
From witnessing his 2021 exhibition, Garage-ism, right through to viewing the impact of his most recent solo exhibition, Monochrome Paintings, here in Johannesburg – Zander Blom’s work has always left me enthused and enthralled. From the plethora of contemporary artistic influences and references which Blom draws from, this artist has managed to forge his own…
Our relationship with the spaces that surround us is first personal by nature. Where we come from, how we grew up, what we see and experience — the ways we live. A great sequence of verbs in the past tense. There are histories which tell stories of our origins, locations, languages and habits. We are…
Neoliberalism and all his children, such as The American Dream and all its variations, would have many Black African artists spending their nights conjuring up dreams of achieving excellence via Western standards. In line with a culture of celebrating and uplifting our people, we would cheer on when one of our own local artists is…
Made to Fall in Love, is a short film that captures the spirit of Afro Caribbean people and their relationship with love throughout the diaspora. The purpose of NoHa Collective’s first official initiative is to present Black love in a new perspective. “What does your relationship with love look like?” The collective inquires. In most…
*This essay forms part of Bubblegum’s Collaboration with Bag Factory and their visiting curator from Uganda, EM Mirembe. It is the second part of Joburg based art critic and Azanian Philosophical Association member Athi Mongezeleli Joja’s reading of apartheid former president, F.W. de Klerk, pre-recorded “last message” video. Read the first part here. The metaphor of home instantiates more than just notions of…
*This essay forms part of Bubblegum’s Collaboration with Bag Factory and their visiting curator from Uganda, EM Mirembe. It is the first part of Joburg based art critic and Azanian Philosophical Association member Athi Mongezeleli Joja reading of apartheid former president, F.W. de Klerk, pre-recorded “last message” video. Those who have wronged must be ready to make amends they can. They…
It must have been a random evening of mindless scrolling through my Instagram gallery when I suddenly received one of those incredibly annoying notifications of a livestream by someone I forgot I followed. Except, this time, I clicked in with full excitement after noticing that it was a SCCA Tamale live. The Savannah Centre for…
I’ve been thinking a lot about the work of Igshaan Adams in relation to Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. Using abstraction to guide him, Marx became well known as one of the most influential architects but for his work as a painter, ecologist and naturalist in the region. The patterns and intricate images of…
A dreaded J. Cole and an old Nelson Mandela stand side by side, with Nelson looking off into the distance wearing a light canary yellow Puma tracksuit in towelling fabric — gold chains to tow. The caption, a J. Cole quote, reads, “One thing for sure if you ain’t aim too high, then you aim…
It’s Black History Month in the United States, which presents Americans and the world at large an opportunity to learn more about historically minimised portions of a history that colour the present day existence of folks in the US and even worldwide. However, while most are detached from investigations of black history in the US,…
Warning: This article contains sensitive content that some may find graphic and explicit Recently, I came across some texts and reflections on the work of Clarice Lispector. The celebrated author produced most of her work in Brazil, where she lived from the age of two until her death in 1977. Born in the Ukraine, Clarice…
