Umnyakazo is a process driven exhibition of select work by photographer Thembinkosi Hlatshwayo working with curator and artist Luvuyo Equiano Nyawose. The show is the first in a series of exhibitions that form part of the Goethe-Institut South Africa’s Young Curators Incubator programme co-conceptualised by the Wits School of Art’s History of Art department.
Building on Hlatshwayo’s works from the
Slaghuis and Slaghuis II (2018 - 2019) series as a point of departure,
Umnyakazo sees Hlatshwayo exploring notions of movement, stillness and the moments in between. Moving away from presenting the work as “complete” or “final”, it centers porous and affective exhibition making. The exhibition considers the word’s multiple meanings in three dynamic ways -
Umnyakazo as moving forward, moving backwards or bubbling underneath. Within this nexus, the mostly monochromatic prints and videos hold this contention. There is a deliberate prodding of absence and presence with shadows and figures that are framed inside, outside and beside window screens. Others appear as densely marked, on lived/non-new surfaces, representing the after.
For Hlatshwayo, temporality is important; during the incubation period, he produced new works exploring the movement of surfaces, thinking about how various surfaces carry memories, multiple encounters and ultimately inheritances. Considering the multi-sensorial nature of photography, Hlatshwayo experimented with different mediums, including; lithographic prints, wallpaper, newsprint, video and sound alongside text engraved across the L shaped wall of the gallery space. Within the exhibition period, the prints on display have been marked by time, some have holed, faded and others creased - inviting the viewer to contend with how walls and prints act (or fail to act) as archives.
For the exhibition closing event, Hlatshawyo and Nyawose will reflect on the incubator process. They will be joined by special musical guests, hiphop artist Ntombela and vocalist Thandeka who will present a sonic response to the exhibition.
Back
