Contemporary South Africa

The exhibiiton “Barriers” brings together at Wanås Konst, in Sweden, six artists working in South Africa, an active scene attracting young artists from many different countries.

Mary Sibande, <i>Let slip the dogs of war</i>, 2015. Photo: Mattias Givell/Wanås Konst
The title of the exhibition – “Barriers” – emphasizes border thinking.
Barriers function to block, hinder and restrict – they are to be overcome, but they can also protect and safeguard. The exhibition presents at Wanås Konst a number of individual reflections in the form of newly produced artworks as well as a film trilogy (2011–2013) by Kudzanai Chiurai.
Hannelie Coetzee, <i>Ou sog tussen bome/ Gamla sugga mellan träden</i>, 2015. Photo: Mattias Givell/Wanås Konst
Top: Mary Sibande, Let slip the dogs of war, 2015. Photo: Mattias Givell/Wanås Konst. Above: Hannelie Coetzee, Ou sog tussen bome/ Gamla sugga mellan träden, 2015. Photo: Mattias Givell/Wanås Konst
Points of departure include representations – voices, the human body and self-portraiture. Several of the contributors work with the presence of a person or figure. A sound installation by James Webb made up of various prayers becomes a portrait of the city of Malmö: we see no one, and must imagine the people to whom the voices belong. In Nandipha Mntambo’s work a sculpture of a body shifts between form and architecture,
while Igshaan Adams’ black stone sculpture moves between abstraction and figuration. Hybrids occur and, as in fables, animals are ascribed human characteristics. A large scale work by Hannelie Coetzee addresses the wild boar, an animal that embodies the challenges of coexistence. Mary Sibande presents a tableau vivant: a confrontational sculpture group of dogs and vultures surrounding a female commander based on the artist.
One of the traditional functions of portraiture is to make us remember and to reproduce external reality. In the exhibition the body is a recurring motif because of its expressive possibilities. In these artworks we are faced with the question: What place is the body? A human body is a site of conflict where boundaries are drawn.

May 17 – November 1, 2015
Barriers
Contemporary South Africa

Igshaan Adams, Kudzanai Chiurai, Hannelie Coetzee, Nandipha Mntambo, Mary Sibande and James Webb
Wanås Konst / The Wanås Foundation
Wanås, Knislinge, Sweden

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