Sethembile Msezane: Living sculptures that stand for history's truths
Setembel Misezan (Sethembile Msezane): Žive skulpture koje predstavljaju istorijske istine
Sethembile Msezane deconstructs the act of public commemoration -- how it creates myths, constructs histories, includes some and excludes others. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
zamislite ovo sa mnom.
to imagine this with me.
very little context,
izmišljotina sopstvene mašte.
a figment of your own imagination.
kada mi se ljudi obraćaju?“
za jedno dete, zar ne?
koja odražavaju naše društvo,
that reflect upon our society,
crna devojčica može odrasti
how a young black girl can grow up
ili da možda ne postoji.
and perhaps she doesn't exist.
pozitivnu sliku o sebi
positive images of themselves
sve što preostaje,
are negative stereotypes,
that the rest of society treats them.
ostatak društva ponaša prema njima.
u Kejptaunu oko pet godina u to vreme.
for about five years at the time.
nepripadanja i nevidljivosti.
of dislocation and invisibility.
da sam bila predstavljena.
koje su me odgojile,
onim što je danas.
South Africa what it is today.
nešto po tom pitanju.
ever as neutral as they may seem.
neutralna kao što možda izgledaju.
this performance in 2013 on Heritage Day.
2013. godine na Dan nasleđa.
i statua posvećenih muškarcima,
with masculine architecture,
kolonizatora i afrikanerskih nacionalista
and Afrikaner nationalist men
gender and racial divide,
polnu i rasnu podeljenost,
the way that women --
da utiče na način na koji žene -
to dominant male figures
na javnim mestima.
and the act of remembering
i efektivnije načine.
and effective ways.
public holiday series,
tokom državnih praznika
kao oblik društvenog komentara
as a form of social commentary
to certain issues,
na određene probleme,
nedostatkom crnog ženskog tela
of the black female body
to the union buildings in 1956,
protiv zakona o segregaciji.
of how women are treated,
u ophođenju prema ženama,
u sadašnje vreme,
nešto po tom pitanju.
na taksi stajalištu.]
na takve potpune suprotnosti?
protiv aparthejda.
against apartheid laws.
being seen as only victims in society.
jedino kao žrtve u društvu.
how people reacted to this.
kako su ljudi reagovali na ovo.
my performances,
da kritički razmisle o svom društvu,
reflect upon their society,
as well as the current democracy.
tako i sadašnju demokratiju.
Ovde je od tri sata.
She's been there since three o'clock.
Oko sat vremena nepomična?
About an hour still?
are quick to join a group
da se brzo pridruži grupi
da urade nešto kao pojedinci.
to do something as an individual.
pojedinac protiv grupe.
versus the collective.
lične poruke u nastupu...
individual message in performance ...
that she's doing it on her own.
da to radi sama.
zašto koristi umetke kose kao krila
she's using hair extensions as wings,
upravo sada stoji tamo,
there right now,
ponos Afrike, mislim.
African pride, I think.
predstavlja afričku kulturu.
represents the African culture.
all these colonial statues.
sve ove kolonijalne statue.
Bhambatha, Moshoeshoe, Kwame Nkrumah --
Mušešea, Kvam Kruma -
za naše oslobođenje.
for our liberation.
Možda u muzeju; ne ovde.
Maybe in a museum; not here.
mesta gde se mladi ljudi,
places where young people,
Rhodes, all these people,
da imamo Luisa Botu, Roudsa, sve ove ljude
the colonialism.
was scheduled to be removed
statue Džona Sesila Roudsa
za i protiv uklanjanja
for and against its removal
interesovanje za statue u Južnoj Africi.
in statues in South Africa.
focused on problematizing
ali su se mediji usredsredili
I had just begun my master's
of the debate of the statue,
sa svojim mentorima
a meeting with my supervisors,
was going to fall on that day.
da će statua pasti tog dana.
za vreme uklanjanja statue.
as the statue came down.
kao ratni plen iz grada Velikog Zimbabvea
that was looted from Great Zimbabwe
in Cecil John Rhodes's estate
Džona Sesila Roudsa u Kejptaunu.
koristeći svoje telo
skoro četiri sata.
for nearly four hours.
on their phones and cameras.
telefonima i foto-aparatima.
of Cecil John Rhodes.
pad Džona Sesila Roudsa.
as he became absent from his base,
kada je on nestao za postolja
has arisen in South Africa.
se uzdigla u Južnoj Africi.
in the same space and time
na istom mestu u isto vreme
beliefs and dreams
je delovala nedovršeno.
felt incomplete.
of God and the ancestors,
i glasniku bogova i predaka,
a little bit more,
i Nemačka dele zajedničku priču
share a common story
kao ratni plen iz grada Velikog Zimbabvea.
that were looted from Great Zimbabwe.
were returned to the monument.
su vraćene na spomenik.
that there will be unrest
da će biti nereda
about the world around me:
and not only see an image of myself,
i ne vidim samo svoj lik
who have made me who I am today.
onakvom kakva sam danas.
nikada morati da se oseća
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sethembile Msezane - ArtistSethembile Msezane deconstructs the act of public commemoration -- how it creates myths, constructs histories, includes some and excludes others.
Why you should listen
With masked face and powerful gestures, Sethembile Msezane disrupts and deconstructs the process of commemorative practice in South Africa, demanding space next to colonial-era statues for her country's, and her gender's, erased histories. In one iconic work, she performed at the removal of the John Cecil Rhodes statue at the University of Cape Town ("Chapungu: The Day Rhodes Fell," 2015), and starting in 2013 she performed a series of pieces called "Public Holiday" that place her body in contrast to colonial-era monuments in Cape Town's CBD.
Msezane is a ANTI Festival International Prize for Live Art nominee (2017). She is the TAF & Sylt Emerging Artist Residency Award winner (2016), and she is the first recipient of the Rising Light award at the Mbokodo Awards. She is also a a Barclays L’Atelier Top 10 Finalist (2016). Her 2017 solo show at Gallery MOMO is titled "Kwasuka Sukel: Re-imagined Bodies of a (South African) '90s Born Woman", and features sculptural work that places colonial images in the context of Victorian-style furniture and dress, reframing and reclaiming a part of colonial history. She was one of the selected artists for gallery solo projects at the FNB Joburg Art Fair (2017), and her work is currently housed in the Zeitz MOCAA collection as well as Iziko South African National Gallery's collection.
Selected group shows include "Women's Work and The Art of Disruptions" at the Iziko South African National Gallery (2016), "Dis(colour)ed Margins" at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (2017), "Re[as]sisting Narratives" at Framer Framed, Amsterdam (2016), "Dance, if you want to enter my country!/ Global Citizen" at GoetheOnMain, Johannesburg (2016), "Nothing Personal" at SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, #theopening at Greatmore Studios, Cape Town (2016) and "Translations" at Emergent Art Space and Reed College, Portland, Oregon (2015).
Sethembile Msezane | Speaker | TED.com