to eat burnt toast
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The lived experiences of women in South Africa and their impact on the evolving economy is topic popular in art and literature. Working women have furthered their domestic, economic and social influence by becoming primary breadwinners in their homes. According to an article released by the World Bank in 2011, detailing the growing number of female breadwinner households, a phrase has struck me. It reads, “while women are gaining more power and freedom, men are resisting change.”
Like my mother, many women are finding independence, economic freedom and power through the workplace. However if we were to live by Paulo Coehlo’s words, which are, “freedom has a high price, as high as that of slavery” then what are the social implications of economic freedom for a woman in South Africa? What is the reaction of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s post COVID society to women in power? Where do we begin to not only support but champion women who lead our homes, our companies and our governments?
Inspired by Eating Burnt Toast: The Lived Experiences of Female Breadwinners in South Africa, a thesis written by Bianca Rochelle Parry, this exhibition is a conversation between artists, filmmakers and photographers about the social and cultural implications of being a working woman/mother.
Artwork above: Atsho Nodada, Implied Narratives 3 (detail), 2022, Medium: Print Size: 59.4 x 84.1 cm, R2 300.00 ex. VAT
Tebogo Losaba, Umkhozi, 2022, A3, R 5,000.00 ex. VAT
Motheo Mamabolo is a South African interdisciplinary artist and curator. Her work assesses and explores the integration of the human psyche into the new digital world. Through mediums such as culinary art, audio & theatre-making and visual art she investigates and envisages human existence parallel to technological evolution. Her plays have been recognised by the Wits School of Drama, receiving the Best Script, Best Ensemble and Best Direction for a One-Act Play by the Repertory Amateur Players Society.
Listen to Lentswe ft Lady Day, by NAGA on Soundcloud while browsing the exhibtion.
Buqaqawuli Ndalo Thamani Nobakada, Initiation Into Womanhood, 2022, Acrylic on laced paper, 144 x 121 cm, R 24,000.00 ex. VAT
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