Being and Becoming: complexities of the African Identity
If the only constant is change and becoming, how do we construct our ever-evolving understanding of what it means to be an African?
The notions of who we are as Africans are contently being defined and redefined by the west, and African imaginary of possibilities, contradictions, and flux. How then does the notion of an African identity change through time and space? How do see ourselves as Africans in the 21st Century with all the itinerant complexities and alertness of the particular contexts nationally, continentally and globally? Where do we see ourselves and where are we going?
The exhibition focused on the complex layers that form our identities and reflected upon other and new forms of looking, seeing and being, re-contextualizing old categories and inviting the public to reflect upon the elusive theme of identity and its various forms of representation.
Year: 2016
Artists: Ayana V. Jackson, David Aguacheiro, Edson Chagas, Helen Zeru, Louis Kakudji, Egnaldo Vilanculos, Nástio Mosquito, Kudzanai Chiurai, Lerato Shadi, Thando Mama, Irineu Destourelles, Yonamine Miguel, Mário Macilau, Siwa Mgoboza, Mudi Yahaya
Co-curated with Raphael Chikukwa
Commissioned by and produced by !Kauru – Contemporary Art from Africa for the Africa Month Celebrations.
UNISA Gallery, Pretoria; Vansa and Eyethu Art Space