Sethembile Msezane: Living sculptures that stand for history's truths
سيثمبيل مززان: التماثيل الحية التي تدافع عن الحقائق التاريخية
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.
أن تتصور هذا معي.
very little context,
a figment of your own imagination.
صورة من نسج خيالك.
that reflect upon our society,
التي تنعكس علي مجتمعنا،
how a young black girl can grow up
كيف يمكن لفتاة سوداء أن تكبر
and perhaps she doesn't exist.
positive images of themselves
صور إيجابية عن أنفسهم
are negative stereotypes,
هي القوالب النمطية السلبية،
that the rest of society treats them.
التي يعاملهم بها بقية المجتمع .
for about five years at the time.
لمدة خمس سنوات في ذلك الوقت.
of dislocation and invisibility.
من التفكك والإخفتاء.
South Africa what it is today.
كما هي عليه اليوم.
ever as neutral as they may seem.
بالكاد محايدة كما قد تبدو.
this performance in 2013 on Heritage Day.
بهذا الأداء في عام 2013 في يوم التراث.
with masculine architecture,
بالعمارة الذكورية
and Afrikaner nationalist men
والرجال الأفارقة الوطنيين
gender and racial divide,
إجتماعية، و جنسية وعنصرية،
the way that women --
على الطريقة التي فيها النساء
to dominant male figures
مع تماثيل الذكور السائدة
and the act of remembering
and effective ways.
public holiday series,
as a form of social commentary
التعليق الأجتماعي
to certain issues,
of the black female body
to the union buildings in 1956,
في عام 1956،
of how women are treated,
هوجِمن في موقف التاكسي]
against apartheid laws.
ضد قوانين الفصل العنصري.
being seen as only victims in society.
يعتبرن الضحية الوحيدة في المجتمع.
how people reacted to this.
كيف تقاعل الناس على هذا.
my performances,
reflect upon their society,
يفكرون في مجتمعهم،
as well as the current democracy.
وايضاً للديمقراطية الحالية.
She's been there since three o'clock.
لقد كانت هناك منذ الساعة الثالثة.
About an hour still?
ولا تزال من حوالي ساعة؟
are quick to join a group
ستنضم سريعا للمجموعة
to do something as an individual.
أن تفعل شيئا بشكل منفرد.
versus the collective.
مقابل الجماعة.
individual message in performance ...
برسالتها الفردية في الأداء ...
that she's doing it on her own.
أن تفعل ذلك من تلقاء نفسها.
she's using hair extensions as wings,
لماذا تستخدم خصلات الشعر كأجنحة،
there right now,
African pride, I think.
الفخر الأفريقي، أعتقد.
represents the African culture.
يمثل الثقافة الأفريقية
all these colonial statues.
كل هذه التماثيل الإستعمارية
Bhambatha, Moshoeshoe, Kwame Nkrumah --
بهامباثا، موشوشو، كوامي نكروما --
for our liberation.
لتحريرنا.
القرن الحادي والعشرين
Maybe in a museum; not here.
ربما في متحف؛ ليس هنا.
places where young people,
الأماكن حيث يتواجد الشباب،
Rhodes, all these people,
بلويس بوثا، رودس، وكل هؤلاء الناس،
the colonialism.
was scheduled to be removed
كان من المقرر إزالته
for and against its removal
مع وضد إزالته
in statues in South Africa.
في التماثيل في جنوب أفريقيا.
focused on problematizing
تركز على إشكالية
I had just begun my master's
كنت قد بدأت للتو الماجستير
of the debate of the statue,
a meeting with my supervisors,
was going to fall on that day.
سوف يسقط في ذلك اليوم.
as the statue came down.
حين سقوط التمثال .
that was looted from Great Zimbabwe
الذي نهب من زيمبابوي العظمى
in Cecil John Rhodes's estate
في ملكية سيسيل جون رودس
for nearly four hours.
لمدة أربع ساعات تقريبا.
on their phones and cameras.
على هواتفهم وكاميراتهم.
of Cecil John Rhodes.
as he became absent from his base,
حين أصبح غائبا عن قاعدته،
has arisen in South Africa.
قد نشأ في جنوب أفريقيا.
in the same space and time
في نفس المكان والزمان
beliefs and dreams
felt incomplete.
قصة تشابونغو ناقصة.
of God and the ancestors,
من الله والأجداد،
a little bit more,
اكثر قليلا،
share a common story
تتشارك قصة مشتركة
that were looted from Great Zimbabwe.
التي نهبت من زيمبابوي العظمى.
were returned to the monument.
أعيدت إلى النصب التذكاري.
that there will be unrest
بأنه ستكون هناك اضطرابات
about the world around me:
حول العالم من حولي:
and not only see an image of myself,
ولا ارى صورة لنفسي فقط ،
who have made me who I am today.
الذين جعلوني من أنا اليوم.
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