FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage

Lizette Chirrime, Layers of my Soul, 2017, Fabric collage on mannequin, 180 x 385cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage Curated by: Curate.A.Space in partnership with the UFS Art Gallery.

If a large slab or plate of the earth surface is gradually squeezed, the solid rock slowly wrinkles and crumples. When, in other places rocks are stretched or bent they crack or split along weak points. These cracks are known as faults.

Q Files Encyclopaedia

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FOLDS & FAULTS features artworks by women artists, in particular a second generation of young female artists whose mothers were part of the era where the historic 1956 Women’s March in Pretoria chanted the song, Wathint’ Abafazi, Wathint’ Imbokodo (You strike the woman you strike the rock).

Exhibition curators: Carol Brown, Zinhle Khumalo & Angela de Jesus

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Lizette Chirrime, Layers of my Soul (detail), 2017, Fabric collage on mannequin, 180 x 385cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Jessica Bothma, Nine eyes looking, 2020, Pen and ink on paper, 21 x 29.7cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Gwenneth Miller Who Am I ?

Compassionate. Enabler. Maker.

What I Do ?

Contemplate. Enfold. Reconstruct.

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Gwenneth Miller, Folds: Assumed Abundance, 2017-2018, Oil on canvas, 91.5cm x 183cm. Artwork courtesy of the UNISA Art Collection. Photograph by the artist.

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Composed of fragments of cloth details from late Renaissance paintings and Vlisco wax print designs, this painting evokes a sense of earthly opulence and an energetic play of order and disorder. Struck by the fleshy tactility of the Baroque folds, I digitally isolated painted textiles and observed how the meaning of each section was transformed and innovated in this process.

Gwenneth Miller

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Gwenneth Miller, Folds: Assumed Abundance (detail), 2017-2018, Oil on canvas, 91.5cm x 183cm. Artwork courtesy of the UNISA Art Collection.

Photograph by the artist.

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Elizabeth Balcomb Who Am I ?

Animal. Human. Transcendant.

What I Do ?

Sculptor. Gateway. Dreamer.

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Elizabeth Balcomb, Submit, 2013, Bronze, 130 x 47 x 33cm. Edition of 15. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Elizabeth Balcomb, The Other, Bronze, 195 x 145 x 200cm, Edition of 8. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Elizabeth Balcomb is a sculptor whose work is a re-interpretation of classical sculpture.

Her narrative incorporates aspects of dying and rebirth, and matters of identity and personal value.

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Mandisa Buthelezi Who Am I ?

Meticulous. Observer. Culture.

What I Do ?

Document. Celebrate. Eye.

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Mandisa Buthelezi, KwaMai, Johannesburg, South Africa, from the Ekhaya series, 2019, Digital Photograph, 59 x 84cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Ekhaya is an ongoing project that uses photography as a medium to unpack concepts of identity and cultural shifts that currently exist in modern day South Africa, and that take place when people move from one environment to another.

The theme of culture is a fluid one and can be further explored in various components ranging from society, environment, time and politics.

Mandisa Buthelezi

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Mandisa Buthelezi, KwaXimba, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa, from the Ekhaya series, 2019, Digital Photograph, 59 x 84cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Mandisa Buthelezi, Endlini, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa, from the Ekhaya series, 2019, Digital Photograph, 59 x 84cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Hermine Coleman Who Am I ?

Visual. Hand. Intuit.

What I Do ?

Metaphor. Mud. Transform.

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Hermine Coleman, Drown/Swim, 2015, 68 x 25 x 9.5cm (each), Mixed media. Image courtesy of the artist.

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This artwork started with a piece of clay about 6 years ago which I made initially as a fish head. After my husband, Gillian, transitioned I felt compelled to make a figure. Through the wire construction I wove a fabric body with the colour changes based on a story/metaphor Gillian told me to explain the feeling of transition. After each exhibition I felt I had to add something.

First were the buttons and then the wings/ fins made of old muslin hankies given to me as a child but never used. The materials were a symbolic expression of the change to female gender and the title indicates the choice she made: Drown/Swim.

Hermine Coleman FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Hermine Coleman, Transition to Another, 2019, Oil on canvas, 80 x 110cm. Image courtesy of artist.

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Hermine Coleman, Apocalyptic Ride, 2019, Oil on canvas, 89 x 69cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Lizette Chirrime Who Am I ?

Soulful. Emotive. Spiritual What I Do ?

Re-stitch. Forage. Transform.

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Lizette Chirrime, Mother Maria on her Skin, 2019, Fabric collage and stitched leather rope, 168 x 107cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Lizette Chirrime grew up in Maputo, Mozambique and now lives in Cape Town.

She endured a very traumatic and troubled childhood and tells how she eventually found herself through her art. Her artworks consists mainly of African fabrics made into large scale pictures as well as the spectacular sculptural cloaks which she wears when she does her powerful performances. Her work has an eerie poignancy, telling the story of a woman’s suffering.

Carol Brown

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Lizette Chirrime, Halfway to Unchain, 2019, Fabric collage and stitched leather rope, 156 x 94 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Selloane Moeti Who Am I ?

Artist. Passionate. Spiritual.

What I Do ?

Create. Heal. Love.

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My work speaks about cleansing, dislocation and relocation, while investigating gender.

It is a cathartic way of tracing my lineage as a moSotho woman in KZN. For me red clay/imbovu is a representation of spiritual and physical purification. In Nguni culture it is used by both men and women in traditional ceremonies aimed at connecting with the ancestors.

This is my attempt to regain the power of healing through the use of red clay.

Selloane Moeti

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Selloane Moeti, Umfazi Wethu, 2019, Red clay and oil paint on canvas, 80 x 120cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Selloane Moeti, Kuzolunga Nge Mbuzi, 2019, Red clay and oil paint on canvas, 15 x 30cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Jenny Stretton Who Am I ?

Internal. Visually Obsessed.

What I Do ?

Intersection. Linkage. Landscape.

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Jenny Stretton, Line, 2019, Archival inks, found objects on canvas, 90 x 30 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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In Line the vertebrae are assembled on a timeline with a narrative etched into the bone reflecting collective histories – the grand punctuation marks of: war, famine, natural disasters and scientific discovery, noted in copperplate script on specific segments.

Overlaying the work is evidence of genetic coding, fragments of the DNA readout faded by time, and to the right a number of plastic toy soldiers record a consistent reliance on a militia. Line talks of a linear ‘progress’ set in a dystopian landscape littered with our technological droppings.

Jenny Stretton

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Jenny Stretton, Line (detail), 2019, Archival inks, found objects on canvas, 90 x 30 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Odun Orimolade Who Am I ?

Artist. Academic. Researcher.

What I Do ?

Generate. Archive. Collaborate.

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Odun Orimolade, Mopo (I am Plural), 2016, Photographic Print, 42 x 59cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Aso Ebi is a fabric or head dress that is selected, made into garments [social uniforms] and worn by groups of people who are related to one another in various ways such as family, friends or comrades.

The uniforms are worn for social gatherings, especially celebrations, which are popularly called Owambe in the Yoruba culture of Nigeria. These celebrations are very elaborate and loud, much like a grand spectacle put on to show wealth, unity and flamboyance. These clothes are worn in identification with others as a form of social support systems as well as social control.

Odun Orimolade FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Odun Orimolade, Mopo I (I am Plural), 2016, Photographic Print, 42 x 59cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Odun Orimolade, Mopo IV (I am Plural), 2016, Photographic Print, 42 x 59cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Odun Orimolade, Mopo II (I am Plural), 2016, Photographic Print, 42 x 59cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Neli Nkonyane Who Am I ?

Sculptor. Printmaker. Storyteller.

What I Do ?

Body. Paper. Ink.

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Neli Nkonyane, Kuhlonipha: I am Woman V, 2019, Photographic print, 59.4 x 84.1cm.

Photo by Anthea Pokroy. Image courtesy of the artist.

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I find using my body a channel of taking ownership of my identity while culturally disobeying cultural norms of how the female body is represented, resisting conformity to traditions without sexualising the body.

Neli Nkonyane

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Neli Nkonyane, Kuhlonipha: I am Woman III, 2019, Photographic print, 59.4 x 84.1cm.

Photo by Anthea Pokroy. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Adelle van Zyl Who Am I ?

Thinker. Creative. Empath.

What I Do ?

Experience. Internalise. Translate.

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Adelle Van Zyl, Mandy’s Bathroom – 5 pm I, 2020, Oil on canvas, 60.5 cm x 50.5cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Adelle Van Zyl, Mandy’s Bathroom – 5 pm III, 2020, Oil on canvas, 60.5 cm x 50.5cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Mandy’s Bathroom - 5 pm forms part of a series of paintings that reflect liminal times and spaces. The artist chooses commonplace settings which are photographed in dusk’s soft, golden glow. In this oblique light, the subject transforms from the everyday to the extraordinary. The reference photographs, taken by Gwen Miller, were cropped and arranged to resemble an abstract presence of the rhythm and repetition of daily life.

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Cecilia Maartens Who Am I ?

Harmony. Nature. Life.

What I Do ?

Memory. Rhizome. Evolve.

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Cecilia Maartens, Bequeathed Memory #2 (The Ugly Duckling), 2018, Appropriated embroidery on linen, 80 x 40cm.

Image courtesy of the artist.

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Bequeathed Memory (2018) are two pieces of my mother’s embroidery dating from the fifties, which I have re-appropriated through a process of re-embroidering onto the same items. The threading is imbued with my gratitude, admiration and love towards my mother, but it also shows our differences.

Cecilia Maartens

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Cecilia Maartens, Bequeathed Memory #2 (The Ugly Duckling) (detail), 2018, Appropriated embroidery on linen, 80 x 40cm (Detail).

Image courtesy of the artist.

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Gabisile Nkosi

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Gabisile Nkosi (1974-2008) Gabisile Nkosi was a victim of gender based violence when she was murdered at the age of 34. She was an artist whose preferred medium was printmaking. Her work focussed on women and particularly those who were abused. In 2008 she was shot in the head by a former boyfriend who then shot himself. She left a 13 year old son, Sandile who is now an artist.

Carol Brown

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Gabisile Nkosi, Wandile, 2005, Etching on paper, 67.3 x 47.3 cm. Image courtesy of Durban Art Gallery.

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Gabisile Nkosi, Gida Nami, 2005, Etching on paper, 70.2 x 48.5cm. Image courtesy of Durban Art Gallery.

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Andrea Walters Who Am I ?

Merry prankster. Empath. Wyvern.

What I Do ?

Explore. Connect. Respond.

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Andrea Walters, Untitled, 2020, Sunlight soap, Size variable. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Andrea Walters, Baby Lee Jegels (25), 2020, Sunlight soap, 5.5 x 10 x 3.5cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Most South African women use Sunlight soap bars somewhere in the home.

The mouth is uniquely individual: it communicates thoughts, opinions and emotions. I carve the mouths of women who have been silenced by femicide into these ubiquitous green soap bars. In response to my anger and my sorrow, the soaps are accompanied by an embroidered death shroud, naming the victims.

Andrea Walters

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Andrea Walters, The Shroud of Absent-Presence (detail), 2020, Cotton burial shroud with gold thread, 224 x 93cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Ncumisa Mcitwa Who Am I ?

Artist. Poet. Passion.

What I Do ?

Research. Create. Educate.

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My work is influenced by the 1956 movement by South African women who stood against oppression and united to fight for freedom. History can be understood as an umbilical cord that connects this older generation of women with a new generation. Our history infers that women became recognized, celebrated, empowered and they are the game changers. This history is part of my identity as black woman and artist.

Ncumisa Mcitwa

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Ncumisa Mcitwa, Unxebelelwano, 2019, Digital photograph, 42 x 59.4cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Ncumisa Mcitwa, Ngubani, 2019, Digital photograph, 42 x 59.4cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Ncumisa Mcitwa, Khandlolo: I Am, 2019, Digital photograph, 42 x 59.4 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Jessica Bothma Who Am I ?

Feeling. Working. Being.

What I Do ?

Find. Make. Reflect.

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Jessica Bothma, Heaven and Earth Denied, 2019, Cold cast, bronze, resin composites, mild steel, pine, 37 x 28 x 21cm.

Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Daniel Philogene.

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Jessica Bothma, Widow Tree, 2016, Mild steel, lead wood, Meranti wood, 63 x 20 x 18cm.

Image courtesy of the artist.

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My heart exploded out of my body, I woke up as woman.

The landscape of Love, They speak it, Too much, too often, Too many times Jessica Bothma (Excerpt from “A Day I can Never Forget”)

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Amita Makan Who Am I ?

Infinite. Embroiderer. Beauty.

What I Do ?

“Something from something”.

Reincarnate. Meditation.

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Amita Makan, Kali’s Kovid Kosmic Dance 1 (verso detail), 2020, Hand embroidery, 167 x 135cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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The functional ‘cobbler stitch’ that defined my Indian, Gujarati male ancestors has abandoned the caste system and the cramped confines of the shoe: It now abides in my recently emancipated hands. This now liberated stitch is impelled to tell stories my ancestral, personal stories, stories from the South African archive and stories about larger socio-political challenges. Shape shifting precious saris of ancient styles and traditions, symbolic botanical woven patterns and shiny sequins are cut up and, free from their six metre rectangular confines, now have transformative powers and are reincarnated.

Amita Makan FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Amita Makan, Water Mantra (detail), 2018, Hand embroidery, 133 x 112cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Alka Dass Who Am I ?

Intrepid. Over-thinker. Capricious.

What I Do ?

Rebel. Reveal. Render.

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Alka Dass, Buttery Spring Flowers With Time, 2020, Digital Print, 16 x 11cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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My work looks at dissecting the tapestry of my culture and how each thread of thought has carefully given shape to the identity I’ve come to associate with myself and my community. I spend time visually investigating women in my family and members in my wider the community. My projects deal with gender roles and depict how often the strain is placed on females in Desi culture.

Alka Dass

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Alka Dass, My Nanie Has Always Been a Wildflower, 2020, Digital Print, 16 x 11cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Alka Dass, Marigold Girl, 2020, Digital Print, 16 x 11cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Penny Siopis Who Am I ?

Curious. Reflective. Open.

What I Do ?

Transform. Comment. Engage.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Penny Siopis, My Lovely Day (film still), 1997, Single-channel video, 21min 12sec. Still courtesy of the artist and Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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I made “My Lovely Day” for the second Johannesburg Biennale in 1997. The overall theme was “Trade Routes: History and Geography”. A few years before the event my mother had emigrated from South Africa to Australia and left me with a box of home movies that she shot of our family life in the 1950s and 1960s in South Africa ... The music is composed of a 78 rpm recording of my mother singing that was made in 1955 and a record of old Greek music.

Penny Siopis

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Penny Siopis, My Lovely Day (film still), 1997, Single-channel video, 21min 12sec. Still courtesy of the artist and Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Penny Siopis, My Lovely Day (film still), 1997, Single-channel video, 21min 12sec. Still courtesy of the artist and Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Nandipha Mntambo Who Am I ?

Woman. Artist. Mother.

What I Do ?

Probe. Confront. Question.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Nandipha Mntambo, Ukungenisa (video stills), 2008, Digital video and sound, 2min 30sec. Stills courtesy of the artist.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Ukungenisa was shot in a deserted bullfighting arena in Mocambique.

Mntambo wears the traditional male matador outfit with the bright red cloak and performs the roles of both the matador and the bull. Issues of gender are embedded in the performance as the matador is traditionally a male role.

Mntambo’s work is characterised by her interest in cattle and exploration of cowhide. Cattle are an important element in many African ceremonies and associated with bride wealth, when specifically related to women.

Carol Brown FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Nandipha Mntambo, Ukungenisa, 2008, Digital video and sound, 2min 30sec. Image courtesy of the artist.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Mary Sibande

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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The body, and particularly how we clothe it, is a site where history can be contested.

In Sibande’s work this takes the form of an alter-ego persona by the name of ‘Sophie’ who is dressed in various uniforms that resemble the dresses worn by domestic workers. Altering these dress styles into Victorian motifs, Sibande completely reanimates Sophie’s history through how her body is adorned and the way she occupies these narratives that were stolen and denied from her. This is not just a political act, but one of transformation, as Sophie takes on new incarnations of herself unbound from the laboured history of servitude. marysibande.com FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Mary Sibande, I have not, I have, 2010, Archival digital print, 110 x 80cm. Artwork courtesy of UFS Art Collection.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Mary Sibande, I put a spell on me, 2009, Archival digital print, 90 x 60cm. Artwork courtesy of UNISA Art Collection.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Mary Sibande, They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To, 2008, Archival Digital Print, 104.5 x 69.5cm. Artwork courtesy of UNISA Art Collection.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Wilma Cruise Who Am I ?

I. AM. ME. What I Do ? make. art. write/right?

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Wilma Cruise, The Alice Diaries, 2012, Ceramic Installation. Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Pierre van der Spuy.

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The myriad of distorted babies in The Alice Diaries suggest helpless suffering and damaged lives, distress, and dislocation.

Rendered helpless not only by their condition of infanthood but by their lack of agency. Their armlessness suggests not so much the horror of thalidomide deformity but future impotency. They have no means to act upon the world.

Wilma Cruise

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Wilma Cruise, The Alice Diaries (detail), 2012, Ceramic Installation. Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Pierre van der Spuy.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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‌ Life can be a dream or a nightmare. Our task is to try to make sense of our place in it as we tumble through time together with our co-travellers, the animals whose planet we share ‌ Wilma Cruise

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Monument to the Women of South Africa, Malibongwe Embokodweni, Amphitheatre at Union Buildings, Pretoria. Architect: Marcus Holmes, Artist: Wilma Cruise.

Image and sound courtesy of Wilma Cruise. Photograph by Adam Cruise.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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On 9 August 2002, a monument was unveiled at the Malibongwe Embokodweni, Union Buildings in Pretoria, to commemorate the 1956 Women’s March.

The monument starts on the steps of the amphitheatre with the keywords of the petition inscribed in metal on the risers.

Climbing the stairs, you trigger a sound message in eleven official languages, “wathint’ abafazi wathinti’ imbokodo” (you strike the woman, you strike the rock). When you reach the vestibule, there in the centre lies an imbokodo, a small grinding stone atop a larger grinding stone representing the labour of women.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Monument to the Women of South Africa, Malibongwe Embokodweni, Amphitheatre at Union Buildings, Pretoria. Architect: Marcus Holmes, Artist: Wilma Cruise.

Image courtesy of Wilma Cruise. Photograph by Adam Cruise.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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On 9th August 1956, 20 000 women of all races marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to hand over a petition against pass laws to the then South African prime minister. This mark a significant turning point in the struggle against apartheid laws and led to significant changes towards the emancipation of women.

These women were the caregivers and nurturers of the future generations whose work is now featured in this exhibition.

FOLDS & FAULTS: An Exhibition of African Women Artists Examining Identity, Culture and Heritage www.curateaspace.com

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Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery: Sasol Library, University of the Free State, 205 Nelson Mandela Drive +27 (0)51 401 2706 • artgallery@ufs.ac.za

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