Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent

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Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent

This was my first ever encounter with Africa Remix. This essay was written in 2017 for my second year History of Art course.

Topic

Theory

Written on

October 16, 2017

Course

HART2004

Africa Remix: Summary

The exhibition 'Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent’ displays 87 artists from Africa and the diaspora (Pigozzi, 2017). Fourteen of these artists are South African. The curator split the exhibition into three categories. Namely, Identity & History, Body & Soul, and City & Land. In the exploration of such themes, the exhibition contrasts the experiences of urban and rural life; tradition and modernity and the relation of the individual to the community; and religion and sexuality. 

Simon Njami curated the exhibition, which first opened in 2004. The show travelled to Paris, Tokyo and Stockholm before coming to South Africa. However, some the complications are still involved in the postcolonial period of South African art making. Such issues include the uneven representation of a culture that is grappling with their own cultural identity while still adapting to colonialism and agitation towards colonial buildings and what makes up cultural identity. The exhibition contributes to South African visual culture as it makes evident that African art is not essentialized with stereotypical attributes such as western-dubbed primitive stylistic choices, however, the representation of black artists is incredibly low in comparison to white artists (from South Africa in particular).

Africa Remix: My Response

The exhibition’s intention was to show contemporary African art – art grounded in the international rejection of classical precedent and classical style. Such a category, per western definition, recognises faith in inevitable progress and human perfection, but it is problematic, as it suggests that all that came before is wrong. Thus, modernity rejects industrialization, urbanization, and all mechanized ways of doing things. It is therefore ephemeral and transitory, and refuses to accept the important phase of metamorphosis in which societies are continually changing. Modernity puts emphasis on a definite break between past and present. My response is focused mainly on the South African representation in the exhibition, and more specifically, in the category of Identity & History. Despite our country’s rich and shocking history, there was only one black artist featured in this section.

Simon Njami called his exhibition an ‘ethnographic exhibition’ (2007), while the Johannesburg Art Gallery curator, Clive Kellner, described it as “a catalyst to discussing the future map of Africa, to get funding to bring art back to the continent,” (Davie, 2006). Kellner further states that Africa Remix is quintessential as, historically, major exhibitions have exclusively been shown in Europe and America (Joburg, 2007). Subsequently, he claims that African art has been "defined, written and determined by Western historians and curators" (Joburg, 2007). Subsequently, the western perception of Africa was warped due to the fact that the way in which it was translated overseas was not in the hands of the continent. The exhibition is no longer touring, yet it features strongly in visual culture. Art feeds into visual culture to show what a particular time period looked like.

South Africa has developed its own artist voice from its hellish past. Jane Alexander’s installation of hybrid animal-humans are portrayed in such a way as to depicted the epicenter of power in apartheid South Africa (African Adventure, 1999–2002), and it speaks of political and social struggles that still affect the South African people (Kapferer, 2005). Willie Bester’s For Those Left Behind, 2003 depicts an armed police man and hellish dog in sculpture form. Such a sight could perhaps be a foreshadowing of western metropolitan centres (Kapferer, 2005). Ever since the dark apartheid days, Africa has been in a perpetual process of ‘remixing’ in which it has been deconstructed and reconstructed.

However, only four of fourteen South African artists were black. Writer for South Africa art review website Michael Smith wrote that the exhibition’s curators “establishes them as a force sensitive to the meanings of this show for the multicultural demographic of Johannesburg,” (Smith, 2005). He believes that the show was a bold statement for the evolving voice of African artists. HeartThrob also suggests that the exhibition offers multiple narratives and understandings of what it means to be African, this introducing Africa to the postmodern world. This was further elaborated on by the telegraph, who stated that the exhibition exposes the creativity of modern African–where tradition and modernity coexist. Another review by the telegraph stated that by including a large numbers of white South Africans, the exhibition is about more than "Black Africa". But perhaps the biggest departure from previous showings is the fact that many of the artists don't live or work in Africa.

The exhibition is thus a representation of a future Africa filled with diversity and culture. Africa Remix is no longer touring, but the catalogue is still available for purchase in major bookstores around the country and online. Its contribution to African – and specifically South African – culture is priceless. South African contemporary art is authentically striking. Its unique stylist traits represent all the things that make South Africa such a wonderfully exceptional cultural haven. The range in both subject matter and cultural representation reflected in the artworks shows the strides we are taking towards a diverse, multicultural nation, and Africa Remix epitomized these strides in placing South Africa within an African context. However, Kellner stated that Africa is only exposed to such an exhibition “every ten years” (2004). Ten years after Africa Remix, another such exhibition has not appeared. This causes us to wonder how effective the shelf-life is.

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References:

Anguria, L. 2017. Africa Remix, 26 September 2017. History of Art (HART2004). University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

"Africa Remix Redefines African Art." Joburg, 2007, https://joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&id=1263&Itemid=168.

Universes Binder. "Africa Remix - Tour: History & Identity." Universes-In-Universe.De, 2004, http://universes-in-universe.de/specials/africa-remix/ident-hist/english.htm.

Universes Binder. "Africa Remix. Information And Photo Tour By Universes In Universe." Universes-In-Universe.De, 2004, http://universes-in-universe.de/specials/africa-remix/english.htm.

Universes Binder. "Africa Remix: History & Identity - Artists 3." Universes-In-Universe.De, 2004, http://universes-in-universe.de/specials/africa-remix/ident-hist/e-artists-3.htm.

Universes Binder. "Africa Remix: History & Identity - Artists 1." Universes-In-Universe.De, 2004, http://universes-in-universe.de/specials/africa-remix/ident-hist/e-artists-1.htm.

Universes Binder. "Africa Remix: History & Identity - Artists 2." Universes-In-Universe.De, 2004, http://universes-in-universe.de/specials/africa-remix/ident-hist/e-artists-2.htm.

Universes Binder. "Andries Botha. Africa Remix." Universes-In-Universe.De, http://universes-in-universe.de/specials/africa-remix/botha-a/english.htm.

Universes Binder. "Jane Alexander. Africa Remix." Universes-In-Universe.De, http://universes-in-universe.de/specials/africa-remix/alexander/english.htm.

Universes Binder. "Marlene Dumas. Africa Remix." Universes-In-Universe.De, http://universes-in-universe.de/specials/africa-remix/dumas/english.htm.

Universes Binder. "William Kentridge. Africa Remix." Universes-In-Universe.De, http://universes-in-universe.de/specials/africa-remix/kentridge/english.htm.

Universes Binder. "William Kentridge. Africa Remix." Universes-In-Universe.De, http://universes-in-universe.de/specials/africa-remix/kentridge-2/english.htm.

Universes Binder. "Willie Bester. Africa Remix." Universes-In-Universe.De, http://universes-in-universe.de/specials/africa-remix/bester/english.htm.

Davie, L. "Africa Remix Is Almost Here!." Joburg, 207, https://joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1246&Itemid=168.

"Detour Paris * Simon Njami Interview." Youtube, 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EG-MIgGIO4&t=2s.

Kapferer, R. "Africa Remix." Frieze.Com, 2005, https://frieze.com/article/africa-remix.

Lengane, K. "Reclaiming African Identity: In Art." Youtube, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe2vF1qBsLQ&t=62s.

Pigozzi, J. "AFRICA REMIX: CONTEMPORARY ART OF A CONTINENT, JOHANNESBURG ART GALLERY, SOUTH AFRICA From 06/24/07 To 09/30/07 - Pigozzi Collection 2017." CAACART - The Pigozzi Collection, 2017, http://www.caacart.com/pigozzi-exhibition.php?m=223.

Raubenheimer, L. "Africa Remix At The JAG." Artthrob.Co.Za, 2007, https://artthrob.co.za/07aug/reviews/jag.html.

"Seeing Ourselves: Willie Bester." Youtube, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RHmzIQPTkc&t=154s.

Smith, M. "'Africa Remix' At The Johannesburg Art Gallery." Artthrob.Co.Za, 2007, https://artthrob.co.za/07sept/reviews/jag2.html.

"South African Artists Evoke Local And Global Influences In Pieces." Youtube, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71ip-7juDyY.

"The Greatest Art Exhibition In Africa Comes To Jozi." Joburg, 2010, https://joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1016&Itemid=168.

"Thinking Critically About The South African Identity." Youtube, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RHgAX7CYvQ&t=10s.

"Transition: Willie Bester." Youtube, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZsyTWTurfg&t=23s.

"William Kentridge On His Process." Youtube, 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_UphwAfjhk&t=71s.

"William Kentridge: Ubu Tells The Truth." Youtube, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGWEMIyzKQ4&t=1s.

Bibliography:

Andres Botha, History has an aspect of oversigth in the process of progressive blindness, 2004, Installation, Africa Remix