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Narratives Beyond Victimhood

Presented by S’nothile Gumede

The last two decades have seen large-scale reconsiderations and re-conceptualisations of identity within the South African Context. Granted that identity and representation are still a pressing issue that needs to be analysed within the intersecting parameters of race, gender, sex and power; this exhibition aims not only be a space for dialogue but a space where artists can expand their comfort zone (as it features both thriving and new talent). It amplifies the voice of artists whose aim is to subvert widely held assumptions about the LGBTQI+ community, black people, women or any other group that exist outside the margins of what is perceived as normative.

It targets and therefore features artists from various backgrounds whose works celebrate queerness, blackness, femininity etc. Through their works, these artists assert their narratives and personhood as a starting point rather than footnotes of society. Thus, works are self – referential in nature, reflecting intimate relationships, promoting body positivity and ultimately reflecting the ontology of the artists. Their use of space blurs or brings into question demarcated boundaries between ’the ‘artistic’ and the ‘everyday’.

Artwork above: 

Sisonke Papu, ZIYABUY' IINKOMO, 2018
Photography, 48.5 x 27.3 cm, edition of 7 
R22,000 ex. VAT 



Sisonke Papu,UKHANYO series, 2021
Photography and digital collage, 42 x 29.7 cm, edition of 7
R29,000 ex. VAT

EXHIBITION CURATOR, S'NOTHILE GUMEDE

S’nothile Gumede is an emerging art scholar and curator, her personal goal is to align herself with challenging hegemonic ways of seeing within a museological frame. S’nothile is fascinated by ideas surrounding race, gender, sex and sexuality – she is interested in representational gaps, the polemics of inclusion/exclusion in the art scene.



Blunt Moya, The Whisperer, 2017
Photographic archival print, 59.4 x 84.1 cm
R25,000 ex. VAT

Kelly van Graan 
Untitled II, 2020
Digital Collage on Hahnemuhle German etching, 29.7 x 42 cm, edition of 6
R1,200 ex. VAT



Sisonke Papu
UMANYANO/UNITY i series, 2020
Photography and digital collage, 48.4 x 28.4 cm, edition of 7
R16,575 ex. VAT


To enquire about any of the artworks in this exhibition

Further Reading In Articles

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