At their Feet curated by Voni Baloyi
Inspired by the title of Nadia Davids’ seminal play, At their Feet (2006) breaks down the silos of artistic production by pairing artist’s and asking them to instil practices of care by being inservice to their fellow colleague.
Each artist has produced artworks that grapple with themes personal to their identity, worldview, lived experience, or what they find themselves contending with at this particular moment in their practice. These artworks have then been further engaged with by one of their contemporaries who produces a work in response to theirs. At every step each artist has had to consider what acts of care have meant for them, how they would wish to approach a fellow artist’s artwork, and how they would wish for their work to be approached.
In the end, with the help of you as our audience, we will produce a working lexicon of what responsiveness, reciprocity, and relativity can look like within the context of artistic production when dealing with a diverse set of worldviews, experiences, and identities. Here, the concept of revolutionary (m)othering finds root within the exhibition’s working methodology. Finding meaning and function in process and the anarchival rather than the tangible final product calls us in to reflect as a community not only the potentiality of facing oppressive regimes and social constructions within art practices, but also exploring the limits and potentials of exhibition-making in times of crisis.
Mural artwork by Hanna Noor Mohamed and painting by Khanyi Mawhayi.
We may find ourselves calling one another in, out, or even around, but at the centre of it all is the intention to not avoid the conflict, but to rather dwell in the grey and the ambiguity as a community so we can begin to name in order to heal.
Left to right: Artworks by Mercy Thokozane Minah and Keabetswe Seema.
This focus on responsiveness, reciprocity, and relativity opens up a series of initial inquiries; What caught the eye of the beholder? What captured the ear of the listener? Thus, what have we chosen to carefully work into our act of service by means of artistic production?
Back to front: Artworks by Talia Ramkilawan and Rebaone Finger.
Artworks by Rebaone Finger.
Detail view of artwork by Sitaara Stodel.
Installation shots of artworks by Zenaéca Singh.
