Sethembile Msezane: Living sculptures that stand for history's truths
Sethembile Msezane: 代表历史真相的活雕塑
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.
to imagine this with me.
very little context,
a figment of your own imagination.
你不是自己虚构的事物。
的时候才存在吗?
这样的想法很沉重,对吗?
that reflect upon our society,
可以反映社会问题的艺术作品,
how a young black girl can grow up
的黑人女孩如何成长,
and perhaps she doesn't exist.
甚至是她根本不存在。
positive images of themselves
对自身没有正面认识,
are negative stereotypes,
that the rest of society treats them.
社会其他人对待他们的方式。
for about five years at the time.
of dislocation and invisibility.
无归属和被忽视的滋味。
South Africa what it is today.
ever as neutral as they may seem.
像它们看起来那样中立,
this performance in 2013 on Heritage Day.
演出时发现了这一点。
with masculine architecture,
and Afrikaner nationalist men
白人殖民主义和民族主义的人,
gender and racial divide,
the way that women --
to dominant male figures
and the act of remembering
and effective ways.
和有效的方式实现。
public holiday series,
as a form of social commentary
to certain issues,
of the black female body
to the union buildings in 1956,
of how women are treated,
在出租车站遭遇袭击】
against apartheid laws.
种族隔离法示威的一部分。
being seen as only victims in society.
被当作社会的受害者。
how people reacted to this.
my performances,
reflect upon their society,
as well as the current democracy.
She's been there since three o'clock.
她从三点开始就在那儿了。
已经一个小时没动了。
About an hour still?
are quick to join a group
to do something as an individual.
独自行动的准备。
versus the collective.
传达了自身的信息——
individual message in performance ...
that she's doing it on her own.
she's using hair extensions as wings,
there right now,
African pride, I think.
应该要有新的东西起来,
represents the African culture.
all these colonial statues.
莫岁岁,夸梅·恩克鲁玛——
Bhambatha, Moshoeshoe, Kwame Nkrumah --
for our liberation.
也许是博物馆,但不是这里。
Maybe in a museum; not here.
places where young people,
罗德这些人的雕像,
Rhodes, all these people,
the colonialism.
was scheduled to be removed
计划被拆除,
for and against its removal
in statues in South Africa.
对雕塑的广泛兴趣。
focused on problematizing
I had just begun my master's
of the debate of the statue,
a meeting with my supervisors,
was going to fall on that day.
as the statue came down.
that was looted from Great Zimbabwe
in Cecil John Rhodes's estate
for nearly four hours.
on their phones and cameras.
of Cecil John Rhodes.
as he became absent from his base,
弥漫着喜悦的气氛,
她继续保持不动,
has arisen in South Africa.
in the same space and time
beliefs and dreams
查平谷的故事尚未完结。
felt incomplete.
of God and the ancestors,
a little bit more,
有着同样的故事,
share a common story
that were looted from Great Zimbabwe.
都回到了纪念碑。
were returned to the monument.
that there will be unrest
about the world around me:
and not only see an image of myself,
不仅仅看到了我自己,
who have made me who I am today.
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