The Bag Factory & Nottingham Trent
University UK (NTU) present: CLASH
Where: Bag Factory, 10 Mahlatini Street, Fordsburg
Contact: 011 834 9181 || info@bagfactoryart.org.za
21st September 2016
21st September 2016
CLASH
The elements of
something presented that immediately precede or follow an event and experience
that points towards its taking place.
Genesis of Clash
The significant amount and powerful nature of the material created during the 72 Hour Jam (in Johannesburg, September 2015) has inspired the participants of this research to want to continue the engagement between nations. The ‘Jam’ was hosted at the Ithuba Gallery Johannesburg; the subtext of the 72 Hour Jam was Intercultural Dialogue for the Progress of Art and Civil Society, exploring this in relation to Cultural Policy. A number of issues dominated the discussions, such as mobility and how this affect artists and general populations; the role and potential of NGO and Charities’ Sector in South Africa; promoting further acknowledgement of African nations among the participants from Europe. The content and dialogue was rich and driven by creative tensions.
It was these creative tensions, which brought about the theme for phase 2 in the form of an exhibition titled CLASH
The exhibition, co-curated and managed by The Bag Factory, Venu Dhupa, Duncan Higgins and Ana Souto, featured: actions, objects, sculpture/materiality and forms, image, drawing, texts, spatial questioning and moving image.
The exhibition formed inter-related relationships that propose something that is becoming, caught between taking place or has just taken place. The exhibited material is part of an on-going artistic research inquiry exploring themes of intercultural dialogue, the role of the artist as advocate and the role that art practices, artistic methodologies and artefacts play in representing unseen, hidden and overlooked ‘clashes’ of conflict.
This may address or respond to questions inherent in creative production itself or actions to produce art, the use of materials, images, and/or address historical or political episodes. Rather than offering fixed positions, the aim is to create an imaginative and creative space for the tension and clash between conflicting ideas and investigation to be explored through discussion. This recognises the urgency of integrating collaborative and cross disciplinary approaches to address contemporary conflict as it grows ever more complex.
Exhibiting
Artists:
Andile Buka (SA)
Michael Cheesman (SA)
Venu Dhupa (UK)
Craig Fisher (UK)
Duncan Higgins (UK)
Caswell Lengoabala (SA)
Erica Lüttich (SA)
Tatenda Magaisa (SA)
Io Makandal (SA)
Peter Mammes (SA)
Claire Rousell (SA)
Ana Souto (UK)
During the
exhibition Dr Ana Souto and Professor Duncan Higgins from NTU ran a series of creative
workshops at the Outreach Foundation in Hillbrow, Johannesburg.
For more
information about the exhibition or any of the related themes and research
please contact Professor Duncan Higgins:
duncan.higgins@ntu.ac.uk
documentation of the exhibition
click on images to enlarge
