Fragile Democracy at The Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland, UK
by Claire Rousell
The Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art recently presented 'Fragile Democracy', a gathering of work interrogating the nature of democracy from a variety of angles. The show featured work from six diverse photographers from all over the world, including August Sander, George Osodi, Nontsikelelo Veleko and Immo Klink. The combination of these images raises challenging questions about community, responsibility and the relationship between the individual and society.
Nigerian-born Osodi's vast body of images exposes the audience to some contradictions of everyday life in and around Nigeria's oil fields. Tyranny butts up against the easy smiles of children. Images of fresh food and vibrantly coloured fabrics are often a single slide away from oil-clotted water and toxic fires. The juxtaposition of the images in this slide projection highlights the fine line between life and death, conflict and stability, nourishment and destruction. In the exhibition's context these images raise questions around who has agency in this situation and who not, who is benefiting and who is deprived.
Renowned German photographer Klink has photographed communities who have opted out of mainstream society around the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. They have instead built their own dwellings from recycled matter and materials available in their immediate environments. Some homes are in caves on the sides of mountains, others in vehicles or even in trees. Klink's set of images proposes a model of agency that challenges the dominance of the capitalist ideal, and is rooted in a progressive understanding of the relationship between humans and the natural environment.
South African Veleko's body of work, Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder fits into this collection in a dynamic way. She presents a series of images of young black South Africans who show their agency and toy with their identities though their customised clothes. This well-known series, which Veleko began in 2003, has developed through consistently adding more images of individuals. It extends beyond simply operating as a survey of youth fashion: in the context of this exhibition, this series highlights the sitters' creativity and self-determinism. It is an optimistic projection of South Africa's developing democracy amid a veritable tsunami of controversy-courting international media coverage.
The success of this exhibition lies in its creation of a framework in which discourse about civil society and the responsibilities of maintaining it can happen. It manages this through a broad and progressive definition of democracy. This definition emphasises the role of the individual and small groups in transforming society at this volatile and dynamic moment in history. Each of the photographers interacts with this definition on their own terms. Perhaps this makes the show appear haphazard; but conversely this is an apt metaphor for the myriad approaches to contemporary democracy in the world.
Opened: May 2
Closed: June 21
Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art
City Library and Arts Centre, Fawcett Street, Sunderland
Tel: 0191 514 1235W
Fax: 0191 514 8444
Email: ngca@sunderland.gov.uk
www.ngca.co.uk
Hours: Mon and Wed 9.30am - 7.30pm, Tue - Fri 9.30am - 5pm, Sat 9.30am - 4pm
