Archive: Issue No. 46, June 2001

Combining three of the top cult graphic enterprises in South Africa today, the NSA's new exhibition promises a juicy mix of satire, graphics and humour in the form of Bitterkomix, i-jusi and Boogie Lights.

Bitterkomix is South Africa's only independent satirical comic magazine. Since its inception in 1992 Bitterkomix has vehemently attacked white South African ideology, in particular that of the Afrikaner. The comic magazine is originally in Afrikaans and has had a significant cultural impact in South Africa. It has been described as iconoclastic and subversive, and has to date spawned one of the very few publications (Gif: Afrikaner Sekskomix) to get banned after the first democratic elections in April 1994. Anton Kannemeyer (Joe Dog) and Conrad Botes (Konradski) are co-editors and the main contributors to Bitterkomix. A regular contributor, Mark Kannemeyer (Lorcan White), will also participate in this exhibition which will show original artworks from the magazine and the artists' sketchbooks, colour works, recent silkscreens and glass paintings. In addition Bitterkomix 11, their new publication, will be launched at the opening.

The success of Bitterkomix lies primarily in its recognisable visual idiom and biting comment which often crosses the line of that which is considered common social and moral decency so it's interesting to note that i-jusi, primarily known for its Afrocentric design, is also going for the jugular with its provocative exhibition title 'Jou ma se poes'.

i-jusi (roughly translated as "juice" in Zulu), published by Orange Juice Design, is an experimental graphic design magazine published four times a year. It aims to encourage and promote South African graphic design to interested creatives and writers worldwide. Designers, design students, illustrators, photographers and writers are encouraged to create in total freedom and to explore their personal views on life in a free and democratic South Africa. Increasingly, i-jusi provides a platform for artists and designers (both local and international) from diverse backgrounds to collaborate in exchanging cultures, ideas and imagery. The strictly non-commercial 16 page A3 magazine is published in a limited print run of 500 copies per issue. In the spirit of ubuntu the "i-jusi production team" all contribute their services gratis. i-jusi has been exhibited in eight countries, has won countless design awards and been featured in most of the world's graphic design magazines. Due to enormous global demand for i-jusi, a digital version of the printed magazine can be viewed at http://www.i-jusi.com.

Rounding off the trio is Boogie Lights, a collaboration between Cape Town sculptor Brett Murray and Conrad Botes of Bitterkomix who have teamed up to produce a series of wall lamps. Murray's familiar stained glass-like lamps combine with Botes' seemingly endless repertoire of angels, devils and various family members to create unique and affordable art for the walls.

Opening: Tuesday June 19 at 6pm
Closing: July 7

On Wednesday June 20 at 5.30pm Anton Kannemeyer and Conrad Botes of Bitterkomix will talk and show slides on their works and their experiences as SA's most controversial publishers. After the presentations there will be time for questions, discussions, controversy and debate. Wine on the house plus a cash bar. Students R10, everyone else R20.

'Amazwi Abesifazane' ('Voices of Women') is a project of Create Africa South, a non-profit organisation which aims to bring together many aspects of social development. 'Amazwi Abesifazane' showcases and promotes the creativity of indigenous women through the production of "memory" cloths. It is through these cloths that women can express and explore experiences of loss and trauma. The collective experience promotes, through its creative process, a certain level of catharsis, through which the women can grow spiritually, emotionally and financially.

The project is in the process of collecting an archive of 1 000 samplers that draw on the lives of South African women. These will form a collective memory of life in South Africa at the present time. Each sampler is an original work, to which is attached a profile of the artist and her story, which is given in her mother tongue as well as English. This collection of 1 000 memory cloths will be placed within the memory archive of South Africa. Since May 2000, memory cloths have slowly been accumulating and it is envisaged that the national archive will be completed in a year.

This project was formed under the initiative of Andries Botha, South African sculptor and cultural activist. It is part of Botha's ongoing exploration of the relationship between creativity and society.

During the exhibition there will be an extensive educational programme and guided tours.

Opening: June 3
Closing: July 15

'Tswelonala', the Sotho word for "the time of harvest", is the title of this exhibition of paintings and sculptures by up-and-coming young artist Vincent Tshulupi. Born in 1974 in Mount Frere in the Eastern Cape, Tshulupi discovered his artistic flair while at the Mariazell Mission School in Matatiele. Like so many other boys, Tshulupi developed a strong interest in modeling cows out of river clay and making wire cars. When his family moved to Durban, he enrolled in Saturday morning art classes at the Durban Art Gallery under the guidance of Pat Khoza. Later he took part in the African Art Centre classes at the Technikon Natal. In 1995, Tshulupi joined the Community Arts Project, a project specialising in mural painting in and around Durban. Tshulupi likens an exhibition to a harvest - the fruits of an artist's time of creativity. He says: "There is always a time for a harvest - sometimes great and at times, nothing at all. This does not mean the artist should fold their hands and stop producing artworks." 'Tswelonala' is Tshulupi's first solo exhibition.

Opening: Friday June 8, 6pm
Closing: June 30

In 1985, Umlazi-born self-taught artist Plumber Mbokazi joined the Durban Community Arts Project where he received training and guidance from teachers including Bruno Brincat and Dennis Purvis. When the centre closed in 1987, he started teaching himself with books borrowed from libraries. In 1992, he was selected to be part of a group of 15 artists chosen to attend printmaking classes at the Technikon Natal. The course covered woodcut, silk screen, etching, linocut and lithograph techniques. Since then he has developed an independent style that is bright, colourful and highly referential to the decorative traditions of Africa.

Mbokazi has participated in a number of exhibitions in Durban's main galleries including the Durban Art Gallery's 'From the Studio' in 1991, 'Artists Invite Artists' at the DAG in 1994, and the 1996 Natal Biennale. When not working on his own pieces, Mbokazi teaches art to a group of children from his neighbourhood.

Opening: Friday June 8, 6pm
Closing: July 08

'Fokofo - Natives on Display', an exhibition investigating the material manifestations of the Mabaso people living in the Msinga district of central KwaZulu-Natal, moves to Durban from the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg. The show was produced by Dasart, an artists' collective formed in 1991 by Michael Matthews, in collaboration with anthropologist Dieter Reusch. Since its formation Dasart has dealt with issues of placement/displacement through the investigation of culture's material symbols and signs. In 1995 the Durban Art Gallery hosted 'Dasart/Victoria' and later 'Colonial Mutations' which utilised the context of the DAG's Victorian Collection to confront issues of colonisation. Recently, Dasart became more introspective, reworking public and private rituals - a development which culminated in an installation that travelled internationally, entitled 'Transmigrations: Rituals and Items'.

'Fokofo - Natives on Display' attempts to explore the concept of cultural tolerance through questioning and challenging viewers' understanding of their role as observer and interpreter. Such a challenge extends to the anthropologist's conception of his/her subject of study as well as engaging cross-cultural ignorance in artists, scientists, the public and museums. The aim here is to problematise the interpreter's and the viewer's position in relation to exhibiting the "other" and question the interpreter's so-called authority as translator of meaning. The exhibition focuses on the Mabaso people's usage of beaded items, wood-carved meat platters and ceramics in the context of a rite of maturity (umemulo).

The display is divided into three areas which mimic different modes of display such as those utilised by ethnography, traditional fine art and contemporary installation. This highlights the different inflections of such display and their hidden codification. Presentation ranges from displays of the artefacts themselves to processed representations on video and computer while the work is further contextualised by texts and photographs.

The term 'Fokofo', loosely translated as 'Fuck off', is taken from a beaded inscription found on an isicabha that Dieter Reusch purchased in KwaMabaso, Msinga, during a museum collection excursion. Made as part of a woman's marriage apparel to be worn when registering a marriage, the iscabha is worn over the marriage skirt, the isidwaba. The term 'fokofo' connotes annoyance more than aggression and is utilised in the title of the exhibition as emblematic of the exhibition's project to confront the viewer. Another item on display reinforcing the theme of dissonance is a frottage of the image of a machine gun found on a pot called an ubabulabheshu. This was made by MaZondo from KwaMabaso in the 1980s, and was purchased in 1987, shortly after the cessation of a very destructive war that ravaged the KwaMabaso chiefdom in which the previous chief, Nkosi Ntungwa, was killed. His brother, the present chief was later able to heal the rift in the community.

Accompanying the exhibition is a limited edition of an interactive CD-ROM that will be available on the opening night at cost. This CD-ROM acts as a catalogue to the display but viewers can gain more information on the web at http://geocities.com/dasart and http://fokofo.s5.com.

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Opening: May 30
Closing: June 30

Stavros Georgiades will present stone and wood sculptures at the NSA in an exhibition entitled 'Traces'. The exhibition conflates references to various religious systems of belief and mythology while embodying the artist's own personal spiritual journey and continuous search for meaning. Incorporating poetry and words, the work plays the conceptual realm off against the physical in a complex dialogue that attempts to marry the ineffable with the concrete.

Georgiades graduated from the Technikon Natal and has been resident at the Dusseldorf Art Academy in Germany. He continued his sculptural training by studying marble carving in Tinos, Greece, and is a skilled blacksmith. Currently a full-time artist, he has taken part in numerous exhibitions in South Africa and abroad.

The exhibition will be opened by Diamond Bozas and will be celebrated with a performance by the Fantastic Flying Fish Dance Company.

Opening: Tuesday May 29 at 6pm
Closes: June 16

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Marc Shoul takes portraits of individuals and their surroundings. By situating his subjects in environments that are familiar and comfortable to them, he introduces the observer into private spaces while at the same time making them aware of the subject's broader social context. Such a play allows the unfamiliar to become familiar, as well as introducing a sense of displacement and voyeuristic discomfort in the viewer.

Shoul graduated with a B Tech degree (cum laude) from the Port Elizabeth Technikon in 1999. Currently based in Cape Town, he freelances for several national magazines.

Opening: Tuesday May 29 at 6pm
Closes: June 16

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