ONCURATING Issue 32 / October 2016

Notes on Curating
www.oncurating.org

In this Context:
Collaborations
& Biennials

Edited by Nkule Mabaso Contributors

Ntone Edjabe, Justin Davy, Elvira Dyangani Ose,
Interviews conducted by Nancy Dantas, Valeria Geselev, Misheck Masamvu, Marcus Neustetter,
Abongile Gwele, Nkule Mabaso, Olga Speakes Smooth Nzewi, Daudi Karungi, Iolanda Pensa,
Gregory G. Sholette
Contents
02
Editorial
Nkule Mabaso

INTERVIEWS ON COLLABORATIONS INTERVIEWS ON BIENNIALS

09 55
Ntone Edjabe of Chimurenga Smooth Nzewi
interviewed by Valeria Geselev interviewed by Nkule Mabaso

13 62
Justin Davy of Burning Museum Daudi Karungi
interviewed by Nancy Dantas interviewed by Nkule Mabaso

19 65
Gregory Sholette Misheck Masamvu
interviewed by Nkule Mabaso interviewed by Olga Speakes

24
Marcus Neustetter of On Air 70
interviewed by Abongile Gwele Imprint

PAPERS

33
Counting On Your Collective Silence
by Gregory G. Sholette

43
For Whom Are Biennials Organized?
by Elvira Dyangani Ose

48
Public Art and Urban Change in Douala
by Iolanda Pensa
Editorial In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Editorial
Nkule Mabaso
This issue of OnCurating consists of two parts: the first part researches
collaborative work with an emphasis on African collectives, and the second part
offers an insight into the development of biennials on the African continent.

Part 1
Collaboration

Is collaboration an inherently ‘better’ method, producing ‘better’ results? The

curatorial collective claims that the purpose of collaboration lies in producing something that
would otherwise not take place; it has to make possible that which would otherwise be
impossible.1

In recent history, numerous writers have opened the door to the topic of
collectivism and offered reflections on its position in contemporary art history,
media, cultural, and visual studies—not as a means of “normalizing” it or represent-
ing it as one more genus of artistic practice, but in order to theorize it as a form of
production that raises fundamental questions about the nature of artistic and
curatorial work, and its complexities.
Intricately linked to the idea of the collective is the idea of collaboration,
which is generally understood as a mutually dependent term and has been
stretched, so much so that the terms can sometimes even be read as interchange-
able, and ubiquitous to the point of obscurity. Being myself situated in Cape Town
as the gallery curator of Michaelis Galleries at the University of Cape Town, I was
interested in exploring artistic and curatorial collaborative practices that emerged
on the continent.
This issue of Oncurating.org looks at the works of a few artists and curators
whose impulse to work beyond art’s immediately recognizable spheres magnifies
the relational aspects that mark distinct and important approaches to the practice
within contemporary art. In general, collaboration positions individualistic practice
as a problem of cultural form—its use-values—it brings the category of art face to
face with it most cherished expectations and ideals—individual authorship and
autonomy—and addresses the basis of art’s relationship to democracy, the art
world, and capitalist relations of production. Thus, it illustrates that art’s constitu-
tive relationship to non-art practices and art’s post-autonomous status is not a
settled question2. Because of this, artistic collaboration still raises some interesting
and crucial questions about the nature of authorship, authenticity and the artists’
relationships to their works and audiences that inevitably disrupt the persistent and
popular image of the artist as a solitary figure, engaged in an internal singular
dialogue, at the margins of society.
As editor of this issue, it has been for me a very interesting quest to attempt
to explore the drive and strategies of collectivist and collaborative practice in the
present given the gaps in the history of collectivism and collaboration in African
arts, other than the well-documented practices of the Dakar-based collectives3.
Okwui Enwezor draws the connection to and influence on their practice by the
Nigerian musician, performer, political activist, and social iconoclast Fela Anikulapo
Kuti, who was very culturally influential in West Africa from the mid-1960s

2 Issue 32 / October 2016

Editorial In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

onward4. Since 1989, Le Groupe Amos in Congo have been able to sustain and
continue in this mode of shared practice and newer formulations, while short-lived
collectives in South Africa like Gugulective and Center for Historical Reenactments
reveal the moment of impetus and relevance for this mode of working.

While not dealt with directly in this edition, the inherited histories of the
Dakar-based collectives reveal the long backdrop of instituent practices in which
Africa-based artists formed interdisciplinary groups of artists, writers, filmmakers,
performance artists, and musicians and succeeded in transforming the nature of
artistic practice from a “formalist, object-bound sensibility to practices based on
experimentation and agitation, process rather than product, ephemerality rather
than permanence, political and social ideas rather than aesthetic”5. The grounding
of practice in the immediate socio-political situation continues in the current
positions of the artists interviewed here, present in their strategies when producing
shared projects. I look at how collaboration actually occurs in the Southern African
context, this part of is evidenced in the collected interviews which examine the
manifestos and projects from several artists who have been involved in the
production of shared projects, and additionally look at the conditions surrounding
the realisation of the shared project or practice.
Every collaboration is unique—composed of a distinctive combination of
people in a specific context and is generally understood as raising fundamental
questions about the nature of creative labour and the complexities of the authorial
voice. Through exploring individual processes in collaborative creative teams and
how they enact projects in cross-contextual contexts and other more localised
manifestations, this discussion explores the drive to collaborate, and the kinds of
authorial voices this produces. Furthermore, it questions what it means to collabo-
rate and asks what is at stake in publicly visible cross-contextual collaboration?
What is the context? How is it approached? What does it mean to work with
relationships within a context? How are neighbouring communities integrated and
where and in what form do works take?
These positions bring forth an understanding of a particular kind of collec-
tive identification that is relevant to how the offered examples approach and
imagine a “democratic public sphere”6 that has the potential to debate issues of
common concern with a ‘collaborating’ public, partners, and/or audience members.
To varying degrees, collaboration subsumes under its definitions what we
understand to be relational, participatory, community, and collective practices and
their varied manifestations. Of particular interest as well has been the socio-politi-
cal dimension of collaborative creativity, the theorization of a shared space, which,
among other things involves perceptions of a crisis in community and collective
responsibility that many artists and curators have tried to resolve with greater
leniency toward participatory practices that are generally believed to produce a
more positive and non-hierarchical social model in a ‘unified’ public sphere.
Most of the practices represent not collectives in the traditional sense, but
practices that follow more self-instituting strategies that incorporate different
aspects and levels of collaboration, many of whom rely on one founder (very often
a curator) who then works together with smaller or larger groups, which makes the
question of what collaboration and collectivity in curating then is, very interesting.
Within each interview, there are questions that look at what it means to collaborate
in each case and how hierarchies and the dynamics inherent to group structures are
dealt with at the moment of occurrence.

Related to this topic are the following articles and interviews:

These would not be possible without the employment and deployment of
alternative strategies of organising and practice. One half of this issue looks at

3 Issue 32 / October 2016

Editorial In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

collaboration and includes an essay by Gregory Sholette, a recognised scholar in

this field. Nancy Dantas speaks with Burning Museum, a collective of artists engaged
with historical narratives to produce artworks in the public space that speak against
the erasure of certain histories of people who continue to be marginalised in
post-apartheid South Africa. Valeria Geselev speaks with N’tone Adjabe of The
Chimurenga Chronic, a magazine publication that employs counter-narratives to
provide a more nuanced reading of contemporary manifestations, based on what
would be otherwise discounted or forgotten stories for collective memory. Ionda
Pensa and Elvira Ose contextualise and offer their perspectives on the arts in
Cameroon and the Douala Triennial organised by Miriam Douala-Bell.

Part 2
Biennials in Third Contexts

Biennials as one more economic and cultural genus of the exhibitionary

complex raise fundamental questions about the nature of art, curating, the art
market, geography, and all their complexities. Here in Africa, as with other similar
contexts, biennials mark the sites of productive tensions between the projection
and transposing of universalizing aesthetics, the articulation of critique, and the
attempt to arrive at self-realization after traditional modes of institutions have
been largely accepted as not being able to support, nor meet the demands of
localized contemporary practices in many African countries.
This forms the next point of departure for this issue, which looks at a few
Africa-based biennials and how they relate to the conception of collaboration as an
administrative and management concept, as “that space of interconnection
between art and non-art, art and other disciplines, that continually tests the social
boundaries of where, how, with what, and with whom art might be made”7. This
offers the socio-political dimensions of collaborative creativity, which have been
explicated by Bishop, Lacy, Kester, Mouffe, and others, to involve perceptions of a
crisis in collective responsibility that many artists and curators have tried to resolve
with greater leniency toward participatory practices that are generally believed to
produce a more positive and non-hierarchical social model in a ‘unified’ public
sphere. All these affirm the awareness that collaboration entails contact, confronta-
tion, deliberation, and negotiation to a degree surpassing that of individual work,
and that this produces subjectivity differently. The designation of a work as the
product of a shared practice “in [an] art world that privileges and worships indi-
viduality raises a number of vexing issues concerning the nature and practice of
art”.8
The biennials featured here are notable responses to the absence of space
for alternative modes of cultural production, and my interest in looking at the
biennial format through the lens offered by collaborative creative research and the
forming of less orthodox models of authorship forms part of a deeper search for
understanding shared curatorial interventions and locating where the stakes lie in
the collaboration and the making of large events in some African countries. This
question perhaps reflects on the failure of the Johannesburg Biennale, against the
continued survival of longer running counterparts like the Dakar Biennale, and how
these two examples are the possible futures of some of the newer biennial projects.
The great potential of biennials to function as part of the marketing,
capitalist specialization for both art and state curtails the already limited impact of
creativity in resisting the dominant systems of power.
In presenting this issue on biennials and the drive to collaborate, my hope is
to engage both subjects in locating the larger shifts in the understanding of the
potential for both radical and conservative strategies that have the potential to

4 Issue 32 / October 2016

Editorial In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

produce alternative and quite extreme authorial models that problematize straight-
forward suppositions about artistic identity, national identities, and their intersec-
tion within national cultural hegemonies.

Kester makes the assertion that, “Art is uniquely placed to counter a world in
which our sensibilities dulled by spectacle and repetition, we are reduced to an
atomized pseudo-community of consumers.”9 He further presents that by depart-
ing from the traditions of object-making in which a single, instantaneous shock of
insight, precipitated by an image or object encourages their participants to
question fixed identities, stereotypical images, etc.; artists working in the realm of
participatory practices do so through a cumulative process of exchange and
dialogue. The biennial projects require and seek to offer a paradigm shift in our
understanding of the work of art and a reconceptualization of the current standard
definitions of aesthetic experience that is conventionally immediate rather than
durational. In their process-based, performative approach these artists and their
curators function as “context providers” rather than “content providers,” and are all
involved in the larger creative orchestration of shared encounters well beyond the
conventional institutional boundaries of the gallery or museum.
While this collaborative, consultative approach has deep and complex roots
in the history of art and cultural activism,10 what unites this disparate network of
artists, arts collectives, and biennialers is a series of provocative assumptions about
the relationship between art and the broader social and political world, and about
the kinds of knowledge that aesthetic experience is capable of producing.
The normalization of major art events in countries and states with problem-
atic governments and policies is a double-edged sword that could be productive
and perform criticism of social institutions and politics while functioning within
them. This emancipatory aspect allows specific politics of creativity to not be
geographically restricted, but instead to have the possibility of projecting its
aspects to other contexts and other geographical points with similar “troubles” and
traditions that reveal artists’ self-organisation that problematizes straightforward
suppositions about both artistic identity and the state of contemporary art.

A selection of the new spaces and initiatives that have been founded across
the continent, and their relationship to their actual publics, are explored in Condi-
tion Report: Symposium on Building Art Institutions in Africa, edited by Koyo Kouoh.
This collection of interiews extends this conversation to these large-scale events
that face similar if not the same limitationss and potentialities as explored by Kouoh
with regards to the localised audiences that engage with their activities, pro-
grammes, and projects. While these events as spaces claim their intellectual and
moral autonomy but are far from commanding the financial autonomy that would
envisage programming over the long term, the level of authorship when grouped
together with that of other artists is elevated by association and made stronger by
the collective voice. The interviews in this section therefore should provide you
with an entry point and a honest reflection and insight into understanding the
effects these biennials and projects have on their participants and audiences, as
well as the impact on social debates that these initiatives have had in their respec-
tive contexts.

The interviews in this part of OnCurating include interviews on the Dakar

Biennale, with some biennials and large-scale engagement taking place in central
and west Africa seen through the lens offered by Ionda Pensa on the Douala
Triennial in Cameroon and the essay by Elvira Ose of the Doual’art centre in
Cameroon run by Marilyn Douala Bell. Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi provides some
reflections on the previous iteration of the Dakar Biennale, which while still

5 Issue 32 / October 2016

Editorial In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

struggling with many of the issues that have affected it in the past was a better
success than past iterations. We look forward to seeing in what ways and how
Simon Njami takes the Dakar Biennale forward with his curation this year. Olga
Speaks interviews Mischek Masamvu about his participation in the Yango Biennale
of 2014. The Yango Biennale is the brainchild of Sithabile Mlotshwa and occurred
for the first time in Kinshasa in 2014. While running into logistical problems, the
event was nonetheless a well-managed project that harkens as a bright sign for the
future of this Biennale, certainly there is a lot of interest in its function. We also
hear from Daudi Karungi the founder of the Afriart Centre in Kampala and director
of the Kampala Biennale that takes place under his organisation in this main city in
Uganda. These responses from both the curators and artists, and audiences who
have participated in these events, give a well-rounded analysis of the experience
from both sides of the projects emerging from the heart of the continent.

While at first glance these two sections are both geographically and theoreti-
cally dispersed, they are held together by the fact that they are projects happening
right now, and their immediacy requires engagement. As John Roberts points out,
“Collaboration in art is fundamentally a question of cultural form”11 This conveys
that, “The decision to teamwork with other artists and/or with non-artists directly
involves shaping the ways in which art finds its sensuous and intellectual place in
the world.”

Notes
1 [Cit. 1] Maria Lind, “The Collaborative Turn” in Johanna Billing, Maria
Lind, and Lars Nilsson, eds.,Taking the Matter lnto Common Hands: On Contemporary
Art and Collaborative Practices., Black Dog Publishing, London, 2007, p. 204.
2 [Cit. 4] John Roberts and Stephen Wright, “Art and collaboration,” Third
Text, 18:6, 2004, pp. 531–532.
3 Laboratoire Agit’Art, Tenq, and Huit Facettes written about by Clémentine
Deliss and Okwui Enwezor.
4 Clémentine Deliss, “7+7=1: Seven Stories, Seven Stages, One Exhibition,”
in Seven Stories About Modern Art in Africa, Flammarion, Paris and New York, 1995, p. 19.
5 Global Conceptualism: Points of Origin, 1950s–1980s, Philomena Mariani,
ed., Queens Museum of Art, New York, 1999. Exhibition catalogue. Okwui Enwe-
zor. “Where, What, Who, When: A Few Notes on ‘African’ Conceptualism,”
artafrica. 2016. Accessed 14.04.2016. http://www.artafrica.info/html/artigotrimes-
tre/3/artigo3_i.php
6 Miwon Kwon, “Public Art as Publicity” in Simon Sheikh, ed., In the Place of
the Public Sphere? On the Establishment of Publics and Counter-Publics, B Books, Berlin,
2005. Available: http://www.republicart.net
7 John Roberts and Stephen Wright, “Art and collaboration.”
8 Okwui Enwezor, “The Production Of Social Space As Artwork:
Protocols Of Community In The Work Of Le Groupe Amos And Huit
Facettes,” in Stimson and Sholette, eds., Collectivism After Modernism: Art and
Social Imagination after 1945, University of Minnesota Press, 3, 2007, pp. 244.
Protocols Of Community In The Work Of Le Groupe Amos And Huit Facettes,” in
Stimson and Sholette, eds., Collectivism After Modernism: Art and Social Imagination
after 1945, University of Minnesota Press, 3, 2007, pp. 244.
9 Bishop, Claire, “The Social Turn: Collaboration and Its Discontents,”
Artforum, February 2006, pp. 179-185, quoting Grant H. Kester, in another key text,
Conversation Pieces: Community and Communication in Modern Art, University of
California Press, Berkeley, 2004.

6 Issue 32 / October 2016

Editorial Our Own Context: Collaborations & Biennials

10 Grant H. Kester, “Conversation Pieces: The Role of Dialogue in Socially-

Engaged Art,” in Zoya Kucor and Simon Leung, eds., Theory in Contemporary Art
Since 1985, Blackwell, Oxford, 2005.
11 John Roberts and Stephen Wright, “Art and collaboration.”

Nkule Mabaso, b. 1988, graduated with a Fine Arts degree from the University of
Cape Town and received a Masters in Curating at the Postgraduate Programme in Curating
ZHdK, Zürich. She has worked as Assistant Editor of the journal OnCurating.org and
founded the Newcastle Creative Network in Kwazulu Natal. As an artist, she has shown
work in Denmark, Switzerland, South Africa, Germany, and Zimbabwe. She has curated
shows and organized public talks in Switzerland, Malawi, Tanzania, and South Africa.
Currently a PHD Candidate at the Rhodes University as part of the research team
SARChI Chair ‹Geopolitics and the Arts of Africa›, and curator of the Michaelis Galleries at
the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town.

7 Issue 32 / October 2016

INTERVIEWS
ON
COLLABORATIONS

8 Issue 32 / October 2016

Chimurenga In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Why you don’t see people

collaborating on building
hospitals and 4 other thoughts
on collaboration
by Ntone Edjabe, Chimurenga
in Conversation with Valeria Geselev
Try coming to Cape Town with an interest in office, he shares a few thoughts on the philosophy
contemporary, critical, and political creative practice— and practice of the collaborative magic spell.
and see how long you can go before hearing the word
‘Chimurenga’. The Shona word for struggle, resist-
ance, and revolution has a few more meanings in its 1. You either touch a nerve, or not.
South African context. Based in a small and yellow
office on the central Long Street, Chimurenga is an “Speaking about contributors, even though
institution for local pan-African cultural production—a people don’t come to us for money we do insist on
quarterly publication, an online radio station, a place paying a fee for every contribution. There is a long
for musical happenings and art exhibitions. For a local history of exploitation of the ‘labour of love’ of crea-
young, gifted and black crowd, it stands as a synonym tive work. It is essentially how many independent,
for cool. non-commercial projects survive, but it can quickly
At first it sounded to me like Cheburashka, an become exploitative, especially in a country where
iconic animated monkey character from classic Soviet the hard and soft labour of black people is often
children’s films. When I researched about taken for granted. We also insist in paying for sub-
Chimurenga—after encountering the word enough missions to try to neutralise the existing power
times in various conversations with artists and writ- dynamics in the production of knowledge: we don’t
ers—I got fascinated and stuck on the list of contribu- want to become the activist terrain of professional
tors and their bios on the Chimurenga website. It was researchers and academics, essentially the class of
a directory of your wishful drinking buddies—an excit- high-profile artists and intellectuals who can afford
ing group of cool people. How did they all come to contribute ‘for free’. It’s important to continually
together to this magnet called Chimurenga? How do source work from non-professional sectors, and to
new names keep on adding to the list during more make neoliberal concepts like ‘exposure’ irrelevant.
than 15 years of existence? The elitist art-system looks down upon gigs, even
Judging by their offices, and by the non-exist- though gigs are what we make a living from. Particu-
ent cultural economy of Cape Town, they are defi- larly when it comes to black people, we are always
nitely not rich enough to attract their contributors expected to be creating work for some higher pur-
with money. It must be the magic motive of collabora- pose than making ends meet. I don’t care for such
tion which attracts Haitian artists, Chilean novelists, bullshit. However, I care for relationships. I like to
Namibian historians and dozens of philosophers, think that I work with friends—slowly and over a
activists, researchers, and poets to invest their time longue durée. We follow each other’s trajectories and
and skills into this project. The spine of it all is answer- develop affinities. That’s how Chimurenga was
ing the name Ntone Edjabe, and sitting on his ocean- born—friends came together and an editorial group
view balcony a couple kilometers from the yellow developed organically from this. People recom-

9 Issue 32 / October 2016

Chimurenga In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

mended people, like facebook. My work has been such relationships very aggressively and hopefully
mainly to nurture this organic process. Normally in find middle ground from there. Institutional support
preparation for an issue, I would circulate an essay, a is not something that we expect. Rather than filling
sort of discussion paper on a theme of interest, seasonal application forms, we try to find ways to
among readers and contributors—for instance for generate resources from our own work. This is the
the curriculum issue of 2010, the piece explored the reason we are working outside the paradigm of ‘pro-
question: ‘What of the curriculum was developed by jects’. Projects always seem tied to timelines and
people who left school so they could breathe?’ And budgets of funding institutions. Once we shifted our
the responses to this query formed the outline of the work from, say, a once-off publication or festival, to
issue we ended up publishing. People might also not ongoing activities, i.e. things we want to do every
be interested. You either touch a nerve, or not. The day—it became almost impossible to speak with
motives of our contributors vary, and it comes down funders. I am also suspicious about the lack of reflex-
to the personal level. It’s like the sign at the entrance iveness in this rhetoric of ‘projects’. When one is
of the notorious ‘House of Truth’ of the Drum maga- raising funds for a project, they have to sell it like the
zine writer Can Temba in 1950s Sophiatown: ‘You most original thing in the world—and sometimes
won’t find your place here, you will come in and they start to believe their own hype. You will struggle
make a place for yourself ’.” to find artists who disclose that their project is sim-
ply to pay the rent and feed themselves.”

2. Taking the enemy to lab.

4. The valuable aesthetics of together.
“I’m intrigued by the word ‘collaboration’. In
the context of conflicts and wars, this word comes “My default position is to work as part of a
with negative connotations—a collaborator is the one group. But I also believe all creative work is inher-
working with the enemy, in other words, a traitor. In ently collaborative—one always creates with other
contemporary creative production, it means an ally, people, even when these people are only on their
and refers to cooperation. The term was turned mind. I prefer to make this process explicit in my
inside-out. Today in art circles, name-dropping work. The sole-creator notion is very foreign to me,
collaborators adds to one’s value. The etymology of whether in writing or music, the channels I am most
the word refers to co-labour, working together, but it familiar with. Fela and Miles, the musicians who had
also brings to mind a laboratory. Working together the biggest impact in my world, seemed to approach
in a laboratory. I like this shift, from yourself versus creative work from this group perspective. It is no
an enemy, to a collective experiment that produces coincidence that none of them never performed
something new. That is a different idea of partner- solo—or released a one-person album—even though
ship, because it recognises that you can work with an they were acknowledged as masters of their instru-
adversary.” ments. I think music, certainly in the jazz aesthetic,
has a greater readiness to embrace the collaborative
aspect of the creative process. We also seek to realise
3. If one party is desperate, it is not a this through our publishing work; newspapers, like
collaboration. jazz bands, are perfect instruments of collaboration.
But I also think there’s an aspect of collaboration that
“We simultaneously work with and contest the can be fetishized—one sees it in the art world today,
power of international and national cultural agencies this tendency to present collaboratively produced
like the Goethe Institute, Pro-Helvetia, the Depart- work as different. Worse, this fetishization of collec-
ment of Arts and Culture, or University of Cape tives! I often take issue with the over-emphasizing of
Town. They all seem trapped in a logic of develop- the collectivism of Chimurenga—yes, we do work as
ment when engaging with cultural producers on the a group, but our work isn’t merely dedicated to work-
continent—essentially their mission to help us be ing as a group. I have heard people refer to collectives
more like them, while also extracting resources. like Gugulective or Burning Museum with misty eyes,
Whether it comes with bread, a gun, or the bible, it’s but they couldn’t name a single one of their works.
the same old colonial mission. If one party is desper- This is ridiculous. I think group work can be an
ate, it is not a collaboration. It means the relationship ethics, an aesthetics even, but it also almost always a
is fundamentally unequal. One of our responses is to strategy—to do something one might not be able to
always bite the hand that offers to feed us. We enter realise as fully otherwise.”

10 Issue 32 / October 2016

Chimurenga In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

5. Ambition and speed in times of capitalism. Ntone Edjabe is a journalist and DJ based in Cape
Town. He is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Chimurenga,
“The slower pace of Cape Town—ironically a platform for editorial and curatorial activities. He also
the absence of fluidity in this city forces people to founded the Pan African Space Station (PASS), an
work together. There are so few spaces for black internet-based music project. He is co-editor of African
people working here that we huddle together all the Cities Reader, a biennial publication in collaboration with
time. There is a sense of solidarity (and its flipside, the University of Cape Town. Edjabe has collaborated with
back-biting) that is unusual in cities of this size. I numerous radio stations and publications, including Bush
experience this every day, working from the Pan Radio 89.5, Politique Africaine, L’Autre Afrique and more.
African Market which is a co-operative of traders. I
experience it in the many spaces of freedom and
invention that come and go—music venues, cultural Chimurenga is a project-based mutable object, a
centres, as well as itinerant interventions. Even in print magazine, a workspace, and platform for editorial
people’s homes. Most of these spaces function out- and curatorial activities. Chimurenga initiatives include:
side big-money systems—usually they are free to Chimurenga Chronic a pan-African gazette that that
access. In the deeply unequal and divided structure documents the way African societies invent themselves;
of the city, building community and an aesthetics of African Cities Reader a bi-annual compendium of writing
conviviality become necessities. Mostly, we collabo- and art from multiple genres, forms of representation and
rate because we need to—as a way to stay human, to points of view which embodies diversity of emergent
feel beautiful. Not merely because it is the hip thing urbanisms across Africa; Chimurenga Library, an online
to do. We collaborate because we don’t have institu- archive of black periodicals and an exhibition research
tionalized support—and we become the infrastruc- method, and Pan African Space Station a musical
ture on and from which our visions can be realised. platform on the internet and in venues across the continent.
Do you see collaboration on new roads or building
hospitals? You see it in stokvels, systems that require
mutual trust and commitment. Or in tangible co- Valeria Geselev is a curator and journalist who
productions, like parenting, the famous village that it originates from Soviet Ukraine and Israel. Since 2012, she
takes…no one gets name credit in those circum- has been based in Cape Town and conducts passionate
stances. We are in times of hyper-individualism, but research into public and socially engaged arts. She is a
simultaneously there is interdependence—to work graduate of the UCT Curatorship Honours programme. Her
with other people in order to do bigger things. Noth- practice included curating The OBS Academy of
ing is made by one person.” Inspiration (a 13-week house-theatre), pop-up exhibitions
in public spaces and the South African tour of Halfbread
Technique performance lecture introducing post-capitalism
with dance. In 2013, she founded Yalla Shoola Curatorial
Practice. Her current projects include Social Engineering for
Beginners (a travelling lecture introducing public art to
high-school learners), White Curtains (site-specific
intervention in Sea Point, Cape Town), and Harare
Academy of Inspiration in Khayelitsha (as part of Power of
Place project by UCT African Cities Centre). Blog: 
yallashoola.tumblr.com

11 Issue 32 / October 2016

Chimurenga In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Ntone Edjabe in the office of Chimurenga, 2016 Photo taken by Valeria Geselev.

12 Issue 32 / October 2016

Burning Museum In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Justin Davy
of the Burning Museum
interviewed by Nancy Dantas
The Burning Museum is an arts collective based ND: Could you describe your modus operandi?
in Cape Town, South Africa. This interview the result How do your interventions in the fabric of life, so to
of a three-part Skype conversation between Justin speak, come about? Do you operate in broad daylight
Davy of the Burning Museum and Nancy Dantas, an with the consent of the people around you, or is your
independent curator and researcher with an interest activity clandestine?
in recovering the neglected and overlooked exhibition
histories and practices of the south. JD: We consider ourselves to be quite inde-
pendent in that we don’t ask permission from people
to do our work. We identify very strongly with the
Nancy Dantas: Perhaps we should start from images we use. We see ourselves in them. So when
the beginning, with the genesis of the Burning Museum. we put up images, we are in essence putting up a
When did the idea start to take shape and was it a piece of ourselves, or that’s how we feel about it. The
reaction, or a response, if you like, to something you issue of authorization is related to the fact that we are
felt was happening around you? often transgressing bylaws of the public space.

Justin Davy: The Burning Museum came ND: I have two terms I would like you to con-
together as a collective in February of 2013. We had sider: ephemeral and performative. What is the role
all been involved or connected to Greatmore Studios of ephemerality and performance in the work you do?
in some way, and had been getting to know each Are these terms useful in understanding your work?
other over a period of about six months prior to our
formation as a collective. At one point, when some- JD: We don’t set out to work with labels or any
one decided to call a meeting with the five of us, we kind of formulated feelings that need to be felt by
decided to do something collaboratively. I think what anybody. In a technical sense, we are working with
was common between us, why we were attracted to wheat pasting, which is a specific medium with a
each other, or the thread that brought us together, history of its own. It is a way of executing. Wheat
was our experience of the art world in Cape Town pasting does have a sense of performativity in a
and South Africa. Broadly speaking, that experience literal sense. To respond to your question, we are
was often linked to feelings of exclusion, and this was performing ourselves on the streets. We are perform-
voiced in that first meeting very, very prominently. ing identities. We are also interacting at a scale with
authority and with power in the transgressive nature
ND: You work as a collective. Does the Burning of our work. So that is how I guess I would relate
Museum have a fixed number of collaborators—you performativity to our work.
mentioned five—or is it a more flexible structure, one
that is open to collaboration? ND: Correct me if I’m mistaken, but there
seems to be a thread that connects your work: the
JD: It is five people at the moment. After the piercing or burning gaze of the Levinasian Other
first few meetings, we were weary of bringing other that interpolates the bystander, the pedestrian, the
people in because we had formed a very close-knit neighbour or family in the passing car.
unit. To bring anyone else in after that initial sort of
bonding phase turned out to be a bit problematic. So JD: We have encountered similar descriptions.
in a way we formed a unit fairly quickly. I think those I think we tend to agree with the idea, especially of a
bonds are still in place. piercing gaze.

ND: Where do you source your images?

13 Issue 32 / October 2016

Burning Museum In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

JD: Our engagement with images as a group nial project and how museums are inherently part of
really started with the Van Kalker archive housed at this, the idea of colonialism as a system of control, of
the District Six Museum. Briefly speaking, the controlling the Other or controlling the Unknown.
archive is an extensive visual source, mainly in the So the museum is a manifestation of this, but then of
form of portrait photography of ‘50s to ‘70s Cape course local knowledges and local populations are
Town. This period, of course, saw the enforcement of appropriating these systems, or adapting them and
the infamous Group Areas Act, which is an merging them with their own systems of knowledge
entrenchment of general dispossession and displace- and control. For example, the way that a sitting room
ment of land belonging to or historically occupied by of a black household in Cape Town can often resem-
black people in South Africa. In some of our early ble a museum with display cabinets and champagne
work we deal with another such law, namely The glasses and photos of family members. We are inter-
Natives Land Act of 1913. We have subsequently ested in playing with different taxonomies. We’d like
added other image sources, such as personal family to elevate the domestic taxonomy to the same level as
archives, found photo albums, newspapers, and the museum taxonomy or equate them and see what
magazines. happens.

ND: Are you looking into archives, into reposi- ND: Does the location have a bearing on your
tories of the past? Is your practice to some degree a choice of images?
performance of the archive, originally designed, and
employed historically as a tool to discipline and to JD: Yes. In relation to the archive or the
thus domesticate, silence, or suppress? archives that we are busy unravelling. The space
where we are pasting is directly related to the space
JD: We are looking into archives, but it’s more in which the archive was created, the Van Kalker
than that. We are also laying bare archives and creat- studios having been once housed in Woodstock. So
ing them. I guess we are reading against the grain of the Woodstock/District Six/Salt River area is of clear
a certain archive, to use a more academic descrip- significance and importance to the archive. Addi-
tion. The images, of course, can be read as texts, they tionally, these areas are experiencing a wave of gen-
have a specific period, there is fashion, there are trification, which we see as having a direct link to the
gazes, there are different clues. These are different history of displacement embedded in the local land-
visual texts that can be read. Indeed, we are also scape/architecture.
attempting to subvert the archive, appropriating it to
speak against the issues of displacement we see hap- ND: I noticed that you recently did something
pening in and around Cape Town. What has become in the Northern Suburbs. What is the bond between
clear to us is that the atmosphere of forced removals image and space here?
and racial segregation in which the archive of por-
traits we are engaging were taken forms a continuum JD: Maybe I should explain the process of how
with and is an earlier instalment of the economic this happened and the circumstances around how
displacement and gentrification currently taking the collective formed. What I failed to mention is
place in areas such as Woodstock, where many of our most of us come from so-called peripheral areas of
works have been put up. In other words, the archive Cape Town, outside places known as the Cape Flats
is still relevant, and the issues haven’t really changed. or the Northern Suburbs, which are not necessarily
part of the art dynamic or the Cape Town art world.
ND: Is preservation of concern to you, and Many of us still commute every day from these areas,
what is it that you wish to preserve? in and out of the city. So the archive we have been
dealing with, although relevant to a certain part of
JD: Preservation is of concern, but not in the the central city, relates to these outside areas, all the
sense of the conventional museum and the way a more because of this thing called the Group Areas
museum would conserve its artefacts or their dis- Act. I think we are starting to move outside of the
plays. We are interested in the taxonomy of museums borders of the so-called central city to where the peo-
and the way things are preserved. Let’s say the over- ple in these pictures, for example, might have been
arching ideological systems that underpin museums moved to and where we live. This is why we identify
and the other systems of control that have led to a so strongly with the images, because they encapsu-
negative impact on people and society. I am being a late the whole journey in and out, the daily com-
bit vague now, but what I am referring to is the colo- mute. What feels like a permanent displacement that

14 Issue 32 / October 2016

Burning Museum In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

has happened through Apartheid. So we have started ironic or sarcastic. I have seen some of their posters
pasting in these peripheral areas. These are our at art book fairs and book launches, so they do have
hometowns, basically. a more physical, tactile presence.

ND: Do you only intervene in the public arena ND: Is paste and the black and white image
or are you open to other platforms? Does this change how you are recognized?
the nature of your work?
JD: I think we are recognized more by the
JD: We are open to other platforms. We put aesthetic, the portraiture. I think it has become fairly
together an exhibition in mid-2013, which took place synonymous with what we are doing.
at a gallery in the University of Cape Town. This was
a challenge for us in terms of the meaning of our ND: I wanted to ask you about your thoughts
work. We found that the images accrued another on the museum as the preserve of cultural heritage.
reading because of this space and place. Moving to a But also about new museology and the position that
gallery space, the so-called white cube, challenged us museums can offer a critical and reflexive voice with
to rethink or reimagine how we play with the mean- regards to certain pressing and even repressed issues
ing of our work and how we could open it up to of our time. Do you think museums are in tune with
other things and other possibilities. Presenting our the urgencies of our time?
work in CAS Gallery gave us the opportunity to play
with the archival. It gave us a bit more freedom, a JD: That is a very big question, but I will try. I
blank canvas, literally, to kind of mix and match. don’t think museums were designed to continue
There was a dialogue between images but also answering the questions of the contemporary time.
between audience members. There were more people Museums are usually founded on a certain principle
who could see the work together at the same time. or ideology, and they try to evolve over time, but I
This obviously creates a different energy. It creates a think it is a very difficult and stagnant process. If you
different feeling around the work. I mean, not a look at the model of museums in South Africa, they
completely different feeling; the meaning of the work are essentially colonial. They were established in
changes slightly, not drastically. Things happen when colonial times. By and large, their collections and
you view things as a so-called community of specta- obviously the architecture and even the ethos are all
tors versus on your own or driving in a car. There is still colonial.
something different that happens. I think that has
enriched our work. It was a very big learning experi- ND: What about the new museums that are
ence for us. It just allows you different ways of hang- emerging?
ing things, different ways of installing the work,
which was a great exercise. JD: Like the Zeitz MoCAA?

ND: Do you know of any other artists in Cape ND: For instance.
Town working in a similar vein?
JD: That is something that needs to be seen
JD: There are other collectives in Cape Town and examined. It is only opening in two years time,
who are engaging with public art or so-called street but you can tell a lot by the fact that the museum
art, not necessarily through wheat paste and also not collection is based on a certain private collection of
necessarily saying the things that we are saying. African art by a European, which is still very much
There is Tokolos Stencil and the Xcollektiv. Then in the mode of the colonial collection. I will make a
there is the Core Crew, who are slightly more tradi- fresh analysis when I see it.
tional graffiti artists. Of course, one cannot forget
Faith47. ND: Do you think that museum culture in Cape
Town is changing? Are we moving away from the idea
ND: What is the Xcollektiv? What do they do? of the museum as the patrician of an elite culture, and
where, if we are moving, are we headed?
JD: They create socio-political commentary in
the form of Facebook memes, but they have also JD: I don’t think we are moving. I think there
done some work on the street. They take very famil- is friction. Before a boulder or a huge stone is moved,
iar and popular images and add captions that are there is friction. There is an inertia before it actually

15 Issue 32 / October 2016

Burning Museum In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

moves one centimetre. I think we are still in that own museum. I want to build a museum in the
phase. We are deciding which way to pull this rock. neighbourhood where I grew up. I want to build a
We are also deciding who should have the burden/ gallery, I want to build a theatre, but I want to do it
privilege of moving the rock. I don’t know if that on my terms. We talked about the Zeitz MoCAA—I
metaphor makes sense. mean it’s a new museum. It has got this very fresh
energy, order, and perception around it, but essen-
ND: It does. What future do you see for muse- tially, if you look at it, it is a European collection of
ums, not only in Cape Town? African art. There is going to be a perpetuation, I
mean structurally, of that hierarchy to which I am
JD: I don’t see a future for museums, really. I averse personally. I think going forward that it will
describe how I see museums in Cape Town, and I am be a great space for young African artists to express
assuming that in the larger post-colonial world there themselves, to have solo shows, et cetera, and that is
are similar struggles and frictions. I am more excited great. I think that is perfect. But I’m not interested in
about how people interact and redefine museums. I that type of museum. I am interested in reconstitut-
am a big fan of what Fred Wilson did in Baltimore in ing museums, museums that have been burnt down.
1992. That single example has been a big inspiration
to the way I understand and have interacted with ND: Are you saying that your museum is not
museums of late. I am more excited about the artist necessarily an institution made of brick and mortar, a
or the curator or museum director. Of course, muse- container, a sample of perennial architecture?
ums are the people that work in them in a sense. I
am not necessarily interested in museums transform- JD: No, I’m not necessarily saying that because
ing, to use a post-1994 or “New South Africa” word. I there is a tangible, physical thing that you can touch
think it is important to preserve certain aspects of in terms of the museum that I am describing. For
colonial history but also the post-‘94, the contempo- instance, when I was talking about people’s living
rary trends in art and culture, which are rising. But rooms, display cabinets and such. These are real
the agency is in the people. things.

ND: How do you feel about the preservation of ND: But your posters wash away, your display is
colonial collections? ephemeral.

JD: From a practical point of view, I don’t JD: Yes, but I don’t see that as contradictory.
think they should be neglected or discarded or Where do you see a contradiction?
thrown aside. The critique needs to come not only
from inside the museum, because that critique is ND: I am not saying there is a contradiction. I
going to become compromised at some point. It is see them as different ideals. Your museum is a roving
just too close to home for you to be completely space, somewhat like a mobile library that travels
objective. This shouldn’t be the only voice. As a co- from one town to the next. Or a portable cinema. I
collaborator, that is how I see my work with the see your museum as light and transferrable.
Burning Museum. Literally, in calling ourselves the
“Burning Museum” we are trying, we are referencing JD: Yes, but how is that different from the
this very directly. The idea of burning a museum is a images I’ve given?
very provocative one. In a metaphorical sense, we are
trying to burn the idea, the perception around muse- ND: The way I understand it, it is not bounded,
ums, but we are also dealing with museums that have it is not fixed. A living room is a closed, private space
been burnt. When I say museum, I mean culture, that you can only access when someone is home. Your
knowledge systems that have been degraded or deci- images belong to a museum without walls. Your
mated or thrown on the ash heap of history. We are museum is not cumbersome, it does not require
also trying to build museums, not necessarily the management, it isn’t a “burden” to the nation—a white
same way as before. We are trying to create some- elephant—in the sense that you have this collection
thing new out of the ashes of museums that have and you are obliged to keep it.
been burnt. When I say I don’t mind the colonial
structure and physical architecture, it is because I JD: I get what you are saying. The key word
want to build new museums that stand in contrast, here is we are striving, we are still reconstituting. The
that contest and add to history. I want to build my form is still a mystery. Actually it is not a mystery;

16 Issue 32 / October 2016

Burning Museum In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

it’s a work in progress. We are using whatever under- panying text. It is an image; it will do different things
standing of museums we can. We are elevating. to different people. For us, we feel like we are part of
Maybe I am conflating something and using a lot of a larger discourse, and we are one front. One front-
metaphors, which might be confusing, especially line. At least we’d like to think we’re on the frontline.
museum metaphors about what the museum is, but I And we are contributing to that metaphorical strug-
think we are trying to elevate systems of knowledge, gle. No one has written anything about our work, so
control, and understanding of the world, which I don’t know what that means or what it says about
haven’t been deemed important or do not have a our work, but we are quite happy. We have gotten
prominence in the society in which we live. This responses. We have had engagements. When we put
elevation can be described as a museum. I think the the work up, people come up to us, and we are very
crux of what I am saying is there is still space for content with that.
imaging this museum. I think the living room ND: Have you had instances of people identify-
museum can also be seen as fleeting and ephemeral, ing the images?
especially in the context of forced removals/displace-
ment, where homes and by extension the archives JD: There is always something familiar for
housed within them are razed to the ground or the people. But no one has actually identified someone
custodians of that archive, a family for example, were they know in the images yet.
removed from it. This type of museum, this reposi-
tory of personal artefact and memory is the biggest ND: Would you say there is something uncanny
elephant (in the room). It is an absolute burden to about them?
the nation, a ‘collection’ that nobody wants to own
and that the nation tends to forget. JD: The same way we see ourselves, I think
people see themselves, too. We have had some
ND: Why are the stories/histories of these responses to this effect. We are moving towards
images relevant today? How is their significance com- another sort of theme we are dealing with, and that is
municated? of representation and how people of colour in this
city and in this country are represented and repre-
JD: They are relevant because they haven’t sent themselves. I don’t know how else to articulate
been told. History and culture are closely linked and this.
so the images that we put up, there is a history
embedded in them. We are not explicit about it. ND: Can you mention names or is anonymity
There isn’t a lot of final write-up about the work next important to you? I ask this because namelessness or
to our prints. effacement could be regarded and adopted by the
collective as a means of skirting commodification.
ND: I may be playing the devil’s advocate, but
by using image alone, are you doing that history jus- JD: Tazneem Wentzel, Jarret Erasmus,
tice? Grant Jurius, Scott Williams, Justin Davy.

JD: I think we work the way we work, and it is

an evolving process. I think we see ourselves as play-
ing a role; we are working on a certain front. There
are other people who are on different fronts, writing
papers and theses about similar things that we are
doing. I think we are approaching it from our own
unique independent perspective. The medium being
a very visual one. I feel we complement other conver-
sations that are happening. And so I don’t feel we
need to explain what we are saying. If you have ques-
tions, we are willing to answer them. We share our
blog with an email address. If you have questions
about our work, if you don’t get the work the first
time, that’s fine. You’ll get it the third or forth time.
We are open to engaging people about our work, but
we don’t feel it necessary to explain it with an accom-

17 Issue 32 / October 2016

Burning Museum In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Captions The Burning Museum (BM) is a collaborative

1 Installation view of Visa takes you places, a interdisciplinary collective rooted in Cape Town, South
site-specific wheat paste from the mixed media Africa. Its members Tazneem Wentzel, Grant Jurius, Jarret
installation In the Same Boat, 2015, Centro de Arte Erasmus, and Justin Davy move fluidly between the stations
Dos de Mayo, Madrid, Spain. of artist, historian, and cultural activist. Whilst their work
2 Installation view of Gold foil blanket with is primarily street-based, they have also exhibited in
Schengen visa lining and Columbus arriving in Bahamas white-cube spaces, both locally and internationally. Most
while stabbing an African migrant boat from the mixed recently, their work was exhibited in the solo exhibition
media installation In the Same Boat, 2015, Centro Cover Version at Gallery MOMO in Cape Town and in
de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid, Spain. Boundary Objects at Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid.
3 The Native Land Act, site-specific wheatpaste,
Briar Road, Salt River, Cape Town.
4 The Boys, site-specific wheat paste under Nancy Dantas completed her MA in Contempo-
M5 Highway, Maitland, Cape Town. rary Art, Theory and Criticism at the University of Essex.
She has worked as a curator, independent collections
manager, freelance writer, translator, and educator. In
2008, she co-founded MARZ Galeria in Lisbon with
partner Carlos Marzia. She is currently based at Michaelis
School of Fine Art in Cape Town and is reading towards
a PhD in Art History with a focus on Exhibition Histories
at Rhodes University, South Africa.

1 3

2 4

18 Issue 32 / October 2016

Gregory Sholette In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Gregory Sholette
interviewed by Nkule Mabaso
Nkule Mabaso: Could you tell me more about was certainly right when he proclaimed with uncom-
your experience as an as artist, educator, writer has mon longing, and without any of the technocrat’s
contributed in the way you view collaborative work? customary qualification or contempt, that a commu-
nist is never alone. The newness of the new e-collec-
Gregory Sholette: As I see it, there are no tivism, like the newness of the new Arab street, is
hard and fast lines between my artistic practice, my only a rebirth of intensity, the welling up of spirits
research and writing, or my teaching or political from the past, a recall to the opportunities and battle
activism, Nkule. That follows from my belief that lines of old.
there are no sharp lines delineating aesthetics from
civics, or art from politics for that matter. Under NM: So if the intention of collectivism is to no
current global circumstances with wars and dislo- longer compromise the individual artist in the face of
cated peoples everywhere, and with the extremes of the institution, how should we understand the role of
wealth on one side, and a bleak emptiness about our the institution formed by the artist collective? (This
collective future on the other, the very role of the address constitutes the experience that forms the
artist is paradoxically an extremely weak force, and community, albeit being divided along the hierarchal
simultaneously a practice swept up into all these line of the affecting/affected relationship.)
complex matters. I recommend listening to Okwui
Enwezor’s interview on Democracy Now with Amy GS: My thinking on these new institutional
Goodman just last week, where he articulates these efforts is best summed up with this definition I wrote
relations between art and the world quite well I think for this online glossary [http://www.veralistcenter.
[see: http://www.democracynow.org/2015/8/11/ org/art-and-social-justice/glossary/]: Mockstitution,
political_art_and_all_the_world ]. Basically, I think I n. (neologism) similar to the concept of Artificial
agree with my friend, the artist Rick Lowe, who likes Institution (see Marina Naprushkina), or para-fic-
to say: “Please check your categories at the door.” In tional institution (C. Lambert-Betty, C. Bishop), a
other words, it is time to stop worrying about what mock institution or “Mockstitution” is an informally
we are, and begin to ask what we do. structured art agency that overtly mimics the name
and to some degree the function of larger, more
NM: Would you say there is currently a general established organizational entities including schools,
resurgence of interest in working together as exempli- bureaus, offices, laboratories, leagues, centers,
fied by the number of collectives, and artists dou’s, departments, societies, clubs, bogus corporations
etc. that are currently visible? How do you see shared and institutions. Mockinstitutions thrive within the
practices evolving in the coming years? voids left by an increasingly fractured social frame-
work whose coherence is faltering thanks to rampant
GS: If it is evolving, collaboration amongst privatization, economic deregulation, ubiquitous
artists, to be a serious force for critical analysis and social risk and day-to-day precariousness. Inserting
change, it will need to be more than merely collabo- themselves into these deterritoralized spaces, Mock-
rative labour but actually move towards communal- institutions typically sport their own ersatz logos,
ized collective practices that recognize and seek to forged mission statements, and fake websites, all the
liberate the socialized labour inherent in all human while engaging in a process of self-branding not
endeavours including art and culture. aimed at niche marketing or product loyalty, but
Collective social form is always first and fore- rather at gaining surreptitious entry into media
most a fetish—a part that substitutes for the whole, a visibility itself. The Yes Men, for example, embody
clerical or lordly or bureaucratic or symbolic epiphe- stereotypical business executives with such uncanny
nomenon that stands in for the phenomenal reality precision that they gain access to “real” corporate
of lived experience—and that’s the way it should be: conferences, press events, and mass media coverage
witness, for example, even such a latter-day scion of in order to carry out “image correction” on these
that old critical propriety as Louis Althusser, who same business enterprises. Likewise, the Center for

19 Issue 32 / October 2016

Gregory Sholette In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Tactical Magic mixes together Wicca paganism and GS: PAD/D and REPOhistory had little rela-
interventionist maneuvers in an effort to bring about tion to mainstream art and still less decades later.
“positive social transformation.” Curiously, the Gulf Labor, however, is embedded in significant ways
longer a Mockstitution manages to operate the more in the art world and in fact requires that entangle-
likely its ironic identity will migrate from the sphere ment to be successful. It depends on the group. Criti-
of rhetoric to that of logistical necessity, as if the cal Art Ensemble is a fair example of an inside/out-
fictional organization was doomed to re-enter the side collective doing engaging work today, as is Gulf
realm of true institutional authority through the Labor Coalition.
“back-door.” One question this giddy confusing
raises is whether or not a simulated institution func- NM: When working within a collective, how
tions as well as, or perhaps even better than, a so- you do balance your individual voice or style and still
called actual institution? At the same time, the over- operate within the identity of the group? Does the
all spirit of this new, social-interventionist culture collective approach have the potential to withdraw
reveals a curious similarity at times with the anar- the limelight from the one-man-show to more discur-
cho-entrepreneurial spirit of the broader neo-liberal sive models based on reciprocity and exchange?
economy, including a highly plastic sense of collec-
tive identity, and a romantic distrust of comprehen- GS: In a limited way it might work, yes, but
sive administrative structures (see Participation). probably only by getting beyond ideas of star cura-
tors and ideas of artistic success as defined by the
NM: What was the impetus for the formation global art market exemplified by events such as Art
of the groups REPOhistory and PAD/D, and what Basel, etc. We live in a highly individualistic society
functions did they seek to fulfil? on one level, that masks a very collectivized produc-
tivity on another level, so the real task is not assert-
GS: In 1979, I became involved with the art- ing one’s individual identity or position, that happens
ists’ collective called PAD/D or Political Art Docu- regardless; it is learning to not assert one’s voice, at
mentation/Distribution, which was co-organized least not as often as one is compelled to do normally,
with Lucy R. Lippard, among others. About a decade but to point to the deeply socialized nature of life
later, I co-founded the group REPOhistory with under world wide capitalism, and then focus on how
another gang of artists, educators, and activists to overturn the dominance of the economic sphere
including Jim Costanzo (AKA Aaron Burr Society over life in order to let peaceful, social, and cultural
today), Tom Klem, Lisa Maya Knauer, Todd Ayoung, activity dominate the world of money and finance
Lisa Prown, and Neill Bogan, among others. The instead.
name is a spin on the 1984 indie film Repo Man with
Harry Dean Stanton, but our objective was to “repos- NM: Art collectives historically have generally
sess” lost or forgotten or suppressed histories of been borne out of a desire to resist institutional
working people, women, minorities, and radicals and endorsement at every level (spaces such as museums,
then mark these in public spaces around New York galleries, and biennials), so why has it become neces-
City. sary or even relevant for these groups to be present/
In one of the projects from 1992 we managed presented in this context?
to get City permission (under Mayor David Dinkins)
to install dozens of temporary, metal street signs GS: But it is necessary and relevant for whom,
around lower Manhattan revealing such things as the Nkule? For the art world and its institutions, the
location of the first slave market on Wall Street, the answer is above in the previous response, for the
shape of the pre-Columbian island coastline, Nelson artists’ collectives and groups themselves it could be
Mandela’s historic visit to New York just two years that they need some level of recognition; after all, it is
earlier, and the offices of a famous 19th-century only logical, and/or perhaps they require more
abortionist named Madame Restell—once located resources to leverage in their work. I think Critical
where the Twin Towers also once stood. One side of Art Ensemble is a good example of a small collective
each sign had an image. The other told the story. that uses art world opportunities to do interestingly
critical social projects.
NM: How does the art collective situate itself
inside/outside normative, mainstream ideas and art NM: How have your various projects been
institutions while simultaneously extending its art- funded?
work towards the inside/outside its tropes?

20 Issue 32 / October 2016

Gregory Sholette In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

GS: Primarily by me, as I supplement my art here: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-

by working, teaching, lecturing, and consulting. But instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=repohistory
this self-funding also includes untold hours of labour
that can never be counted. This is, of course, what Gulf Labor Coalition (2010-present): most of
the entrepreneurs of neoliberal enterprise culture our projects are again self-funded through personal
really covet about what they call “The Creative Class”, labour, but for the recent research done with the
or so-called “Knowledge Workers”. Venice Biennale, we managed to raise money from
several sources including an Indiegogo crowd-source
NM: Do you think having ample resources is a campaign, and this cash went to cover flights, hotels,
major factor in contributing to success? and a few other things related to our research and
public presentations, as well as a modest sum to a
GS: It is said by some statisticians that people press person, but no actual salaries or fees have ever
who are financially precarious are more prone to been paid to GL members.
depression and personal defeat. I would say that is
also true for cultural initiatives in the long run if they NM: What have your most successful collabo-
are not able to sustain themselves and their mem- rative efforts been, and what do you think has been
bers. Yes, sometimes, limitations can be joyfully the main reason for their success?
overcome in the short-run, and at the start of a cam-
paign, if one is working in collaboration with others. GS: All collaborations are complicated and
But to develop a lasting practice of critical opposition, riddled with moments of success and longer periods
my definition of success by the way, means garnering of uncertainty or failure. Right now I am working
enough resources to make that possible. Not great with Gulf Labor Coalition, and we have had a lot of
pots of wealth, that is not what I mean, but ample visibility in our campaign for fair labour practices by
resources are needed as you suggest Nkule, yes. the Guggenheim Museum building a new facility in
Those I have been involved with have been Abu Dhabi. But these are always complicated things,
barely funded at all. Remember that in the USA and what is successful today, might be less so in the
most funding is private, not governmental. Here is future. Which is why it is important to struggle, and
a breakdown of the three major groups I have to celebrate success, but also to be cautious about
worked with over the years: declaring victory. As Gramsci put it: Optimism of the
Will, Pessimism of the Intellect. Or maybe my spin
PAD/D (Political Art Documentation/Distri- would be: Optimism of the Struggle, Pessimism of Con-
bution, 1980-1988): we got a few grants from the quest and Control.
National Endowment for the Arts, but mostly it was
our own labour and some funds raised directly from NM: In general, would you say that working in
supporters through letter-writing campaigns asking a group is personally satisfying, or is it more prag-
for money, though it was never enough to pay any matic? Is collectively produced work more beneficial
members for their work or to hire staff; most of the to one and one’s overall happiness?
money was used to cover a modest rental space
downtown and for the cost of publishing our journal GS: Working in groups, Nkule, is both satisfy-
Upfront [go here to see back issues online: http:// ing and pragmatic at times, yes, well as at other times
www.darkmatterarchives.net/ ] very difficult and often very expensive as well! It is
exhilarating and frustrating, just like life and love
REPOhistory (1989-2000): we also got some and politics, so I guess the shared work is not simply
foundation money for a few projects and a handful of beneficial, it is fundamental and unavoidable.
members were paid token fees for helping to direct
specific projects over the years, though most of our NM: In 2015, do you have another movie anal-
minimal funding went to the cost of producing the ogy to describe this experience of collective working?
street projects themselves, as well as to a press person
to help get the word out there. So, as with PAD/D, GS: I also used such pop-cultural examples as
the majority of REPOhistory’s support was generated Buffy the Vampire Slayer and something you may
through a great deal of labour by members, espe- know from the history of the ANC, which was an
cially a core group of about a dozen people who American-produced TV series in the 1980s simply
worked very hard to make the group’s temporary entitled “V” about human resistance to invading
street projects a reality. More about REPOhistory is extraterrestrials that, according to at least one of my

21 Issue 32 / October 2016

Gregory Sholette In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

South African friends, used to be splashed on walls Gregory Sholette is a New York-based artist,
as graffiti during the anti-apartheid years? writer, activist and founding member of Political Art
Documentation/Distribution (PAD/D: 1980-1988),
REPOhistory (1989-2000). The PAD/D Archive is now
Captions available to scholars and artists at the MoMA, REPOhis-
1 On May Day 2015, members of the Gulf tory began as a study group of artists, scholars, teachers,
Ultra Luxury Faction (G.U.L.F.) unveiled a large and writers focused on public signage exploring the politics
parachute in the Guggenheim Museum rotunda with of history within NYC. Gulf Labor’s research about the
the words “Meet Workers Demands Now” (photo by intersection of precarious labor and high art was recently
Benjamin Sutton/Hyperallergic) . featured at the 2015 Venice Biennial. Sholette’s publica-
2 The Louvre is Born. From in and around Saadiyat tions include It’s The Political Economy, Stupid co-edited
Island. Courtesy of Gregory Sholette Images avail with Oliver Ressler, Dark Matter: Art and Politics in an Age
http://gulflabor.org/images/#prettyPhoto of Enterprise Culture, both Pluto Press UK, as well as
3,4 The Gulf: High Culture/ Hard Labor, a book Collectivism After Modernism with Blake Stimson
by the Gulf Labor coalition published by OR Books, is University of Minnesota Press, and The Interventionists
launched at the Venice Biennale on July 29, 2015. with Nato Thompson distributed by MIT. He has contrib-
Background: Peggy Guggenheim Collection, site of uted to such journals as Eflux, Critical Inquiry, Texte zur
the May 8th actions in Venice. Kunst, October, Art Journal and Manifesta Journal among
5 An intervention at the Biennale: G.U.L.F and others. His recent art installations include Imaginary
Gulf Labor at Venice. August 2, 2015. Courtesy of Archive at the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of
Gregory Sholette Images avail http://gulflabor.org/ Pennsylvania and the White Box at Zeppelin University,
images/#prettyPhoto Germany. His collaborative performance project Precarious
Workers Pageant premiered in Venice on August 7, 2015.
Sholette is a graduate of the Whitney Independent Study
Program in Critical Theory and is an Associate of the Art,
Design and the Public Domain program at the Graduate
School of Design Harvard University, served as a Curricu-
lum Committee member of Home WorkSpace Beirut
education program, and is an Associate Professor in the
Queens College Art Department, City University of New
York where he helped establish the new MFA Concentration
SPQ (Social Practice Queens).
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/gregsholette
http://gregorysholette.com
http://darkmatterarchives.net
http://www.socialpracticequeens.org/

22 Issue 32 / October 2016

Gregory Sholette In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

1 2

3 4

23 Issue 32 / October 2016

Marcus Neustetter of On Air In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Marcus Neustetter of On Air

on Collectivism and Curating
interviewed by Abongile Gwele
“We never entered into the whole thing saying we are artists and artists only.
We entered into the space saying we are contemporary thinkers, we are doers,
and we are just going to start something; we don’t know what it is.”
Marcus Neustetter

The Trinity Session was formed as a response to a tion has been realized, he states that, “We never
changing South Africa. In its early years of democracy, entered into the whole thing saying we are artists and
South Africa made huge budget cuts to the Arts and artists only. We entered into the space saying we are
Culture department. Stephen Hobbs, Marcus Neus- contemporary thinkers, we are doers, and we are just
tetter, Kathryn Smith, and Jose Ferreira came going to start something; we don’t know what it is.”
together as like-minded individuals, to form the now
fifteen-year-old art collective. The Trinity Session has Abongile Gwele: What is The Trinity Session?
functioned as artist, curator, and activist, while public
art curating has been the collective’s main focus. Marcus Neustetter: When the State theatre
Working very close with the JDA (Johannesburg closed down and major galleries closed down, we
Development Agency), The Trinity Session has been a came together to share our resources, our networks
part of many public art projects in the city of Johan- and abilities as creative people. We took on projects
nesburg. And because of its relationship with the JDA, that required different skills. Some projects were
it has been a major role player in the policy making of semi-commercial experiments with some kind of
public art. The collective now only comprises Neus- business, and other projects were about art and tech-
tetter and Hobbs, which tends to cause confusion nology and science. Others were about researching
between The Trinity Session as a collective and the the arts and crafts industries in different African
Hobbs/Neustetter art collaboration. As stated by a countries. We’ve gone through many bizarre things
few, such as Maria-Alina Asavei (2014, n), that “In a like curating art in the Big Brother house, where we
culture like the Western one, in which the acts of questioned how do you curate art for live TV? How
individual creation are highly cherished, histories of do you access public media, how do you break the
collective art production and reception would be boundary of art being in a museum or a gallery? That
chaotic, insufficiently documented and difficult to shifted more and more, and we got built a gallery by
pinpoint”1. the Civic Theatre and the city of Johannesburg,
which was called The Gallery Premises. It was a
I sat down with Marcus Neustetter in the space we had for about five years and was more of an
boardroom of their artist studios at the Maboneng initiative from our side and not a profitable space.
Precinct, to better understand the distinction We were the gallery curators, so to speak, showing
between The Trinity Session and the Hobbs/Neustetter other artists’ works. The idea was to create a project
collaboration, and to hear what The Trinity Session’s space that didn’t exist in Johannesburg; only the
stance is on collectivism and questions of authorship commercial galleries existed. We needed a space that
and authenticity, as well as the relationship of artist was creative, dynamic, and alternative to create plat-
and curator within a collective. forms and profiles for artists who didn’t have the
opportunity to do so. It was to a certain extent a
Neustetter explains that The Trinity Session has curatorial experiment on managing a space. How do
become an almost indefinable creature, which adapts you curate a space to be active for a new audience,
and adopts as it progresses. When asked whether the how do you develop new audiences, how do you deal
vision they had as a collective at the time of its incep- with the audience that’s going into the Civic Theatre

24 Issue 32 / October 2016

Marcus Neustetter of On Air In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

to watch the pantomime versus the audience that we take the intellectual property we generate very seri-
have in Hilbrow or down the road that we are work- ously. We take the cultural and creative capital that
ing within our public art projects? How do you man- people have very seriously.
age this mix of people? More importantly how do
you think about art in a society and in a context AG: When working with a large group of art-
where it is actually an “imposed” notion? ists, do they come in simply as manpower, and is there
any loss for artists in such collaborations in terms of
AG: As a collective, how have you set up struc- ownership and authorship? The young girl who wrote
tures for your projects, if there are any structures at the poem that inspired the Diepsloot I love you/ I love
all? you not (fig. 1-3) project, for example, is not men-
tioned by name in the writings about the project.
MN: We analysed the fourteen countries of Does she completely relinquish authorship of that
SADC looking at the visual arts and crafts industry, poem?
and realized not a single one of these countries has a
successful value chain as far as the discipline goes. MN: Firstly, we don’t decide who the “artist” is;
What was good for us in doing that exercise quite there is a democratic approach within the collective.
early on was to realize how our actions are part of In this particular instance, there was a workshop that
filling the gap. We just then allowed our own actions was orchestrated, of which the young girl was a part,
to start filling the things we knew were a problem as and she presented the poem. It was then collectively
artists. We realized, too, that we had to bring in many agreed upon that it would be her poem that would
other artists for different projects. represent Diepsloot. Now we’re sharing ideas; this is
Public art became a really important feature, where it gets tricky. Everyone is very willing to share
and in public art developing into something that it is in classic creative culture, we start to form a sense of
today, generating so much money that it supports communal practice where everyone sits around a
artists. I think we’ve worked with over eight hundred table and says that we agree that we, together, are
artists in the last fifteen years in public art projects. going to solve this problem. We’re going to help you
With workshops that sometimes last for up to two as The Trinity Session, given our expertise and ten
years, showing artists how to work in the public years of experience, because we know what we need
space with engineers, architects, and project manag- at the end and you have a standard but you don’t
ers, developing concepts and then having competi- quite see it. And step by step, the project is nothing
tions where they compete against each other as art- like we expect, and that’s good.
ists; then a committee comes in and selects a work, The sense of authorship is an interesting one
then we work with the artist to realize the project. because on the one hand, you’ve got this whole pro-
We’re very involved in long, intense processes where cess, and anyone can claim it. The little girl can claim
we don’t decide who the artist is on a project. it; the guy that did the steel welding can claim it,
because at the end of the day they were all part of
AG: Are collective spaces such as The Trinity that collective process. Similarly, I think every person
Sessions simply “business” strategic moves for better in the project has disappeared. There’s a question of
recognition to fund-givers? Is it then far easier for authorship and ownership that needs to be quite
collectives to get funding as opposed to the individual flexible, when it comes to certain needs. We’re not
artists? claiming as The Trinity Session that it is purely our
doing, we were appointed by the city as curator/
MN: It depends what it is you’re doing. If you coordinator of public art for the city of Johannesburg.
work, as a collective, to take inclusive measures to The twenty to thirty artists that are a part of it
develop a project, then yes. In the year 2000, we own it in their own right. So they can lay claim to it,
formed as a business with the intention that we are they can say I was part of this. It’s just like any group
not going to become a begging bowl arts group. The exhibition, for example. You were a part of that
main objective was to say we need to be taken seri- instrumentally, but there was a framework under
ously, and we want to take industry seriously. We’ve which you worked. So there is a clear curatorial
survived for fifteen years without government grants, strategy in that approach.
and have survived as a business and supported many
artists. This means that we’ve got a model and a AG: Why is it necessary to involve local artists
formula that seems to work somehow. Maybe it’s an in commissioned works in spaces one would consider
attitude or an aptitude or business sensibility. We extremely foreign to you, such as the township?

25 Issue 32 / October 2016

Marcus Neustetter of On Air In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

MN: Let’s take the “Drop Sculptures,” such as project manager of the process, and is the facilitator
the Eland (fig. 4) in Braamfontein for example, that of these artists.
could be anywhere, but the project in Diepsloot can Many people will only see what it is we’re
only be in Diepsloot. The entire project in Diepsloot doing many years from now. It’s a dedication,
is made of steel, so in theory all that steel should be because there is the temptation to spend every day in
stolen by now but it is instead being taken care of. If the studio and make art, and live there and just try
the community takes such ownership then there is a and find a gallery that will sell all my work. This is
respect for it. If you say this metal sculpture, in the other dream. But the moment I do that, I know
Soweto for example, tells the story of the 1976 upris- I’m going to lose my edge that relates to the rest of
ing and reflects the people in the following way, and the world. And that’s why my collaborative projects
there were a hundred local artists who were part of with Stephen are so important, where we’re being
workshops that developed it in concept, that then invited to other parts of the world to practice what
one artist went forward and made the work, there is we are doing here but as artists. You start to look for
a sense of ownership in that. This is where the model the Johannesburg or the South Africa in other cities.
has changed in curating systems and processes that We start realizing that we’ve got such a wealth of
challenge the norms of how public art is commis- knowledge from our experiences here that we can
sioned. relate and transfer those quite easily to any context
The strategy is not about us. It’s about building because everyone struggles with similar things. So
the capacity of those places where people will be there’s the question of how to engage rather than
building public art. I can list twenty artists that have disengage.
gone through our processes and are now doing these Art collectives shift the focus away from the
public art commissions by themselves or are trying artist as the “lone hero”. Apart from eroding the idea
to tender by themselves. So I think our strategy as a of the “hero artist”, the curator too is no longer a
company or as an organization has been create the figure viewed with the gaze of the “divine.” Instead,
capacity within the place that we do the work and what one may notice is a tending towards activism in
find a strategy that makes sure the work continues to the collaborative output of a collective work. “The
have a life beyond the project being over such as it development of discourse, not necessarily theoreti-
being vandalized or being stolen. cal, but often socio-political, means that collectivism
is frequently ‘grassroots’ and driven by the politics of
AG: What was the main drive behind the col- a given community” (Laws, 2010: n) (2).  These two
laboration of Hobbs/Neustetter outside of the Trinity individuals, artist and curator, are often so insepara-
Session? ble in the collaboration they become one in the same.
In 2011, The Trinity Session, alongside three
MN: The collective is in several components, Mozambican artists, four Zimbabwean artists, and
and this is where the branding and naming is so nine South African artists, initiated a short project
difficult. Stephen is an artist and he makes art, I am that involved herding goats from the township of
an artist and I make art. Stephen and Marcus come Alexandra to Sandton. “But for the M1 highway
together and we like each other’s company and we’ve separating the two, the stark juxtaposition of Sand-
been friends for fifteen years and we work together, ton Central and Alexandra Township is most
then suddenly we make art together, and our art demonstrative of the social, economic and racial
looks very similar then there’s a collaboration that inequalities in the city. By marching goats, an infi-
happens. And that’s where Hobbs/Neustetter started nitely valuable commodity in the township, to the
to evolve as a creative collective. Then there was The five-star Michelangelo Hotel in Sandton City, the
Trinity Session, which we keep quite defined. Now performance provoked reflection on the origins of
what’s happening is that our creative practice and the xenophobic attacks of 2008” (The Trinity Session,
The Trinity Session are almost merging into one. And 2014: n) (3).
that’s an interesting shift because we’re saying: we’re
all doing the same stuff anyway. It all feeds into each AG: Within the art collective space where
other. We’re keeping our own separate practices, but curator and artist birth projects together, such as the
Hobbs/Neustetter and Trinity Session is kind of Borderless project (fig. 5-6), would you say the cura-
becoming this creature that we ourselves can’t always tor co-authors with the artist, as opposed to being a
control. When there are specific projects, for example “post-production director”?
working with Red Bull on the Social Entrepreneurial
Academy, Trinity Session hosts the process, is the

26 Issue 32 / October 2016

Marcus Neustetter of On Air In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

MN: The main point about that project was to incorporating other disciplines into their practice. So
do it; to create awareness and create some sense of my position will be very different to those already in
activist action. What I’m getting at with the role of that realm of protecting their position.
the artist and the curator is: is it an artwork? I don’t
know. Is it an awareness campaign, maybe? Is it a AG: How do you measure the success of a
public service announcement, maybe? The beauty of project, especially one that takes on an activist
it is that it gets a new form. What I’m getting at is approach, and are there any strategies of sustainabil-
that art can transcend those boundaries, curating can ity in place after the completion of such projects? For
transcend those boundaries, to make a social differ- example, the Borderless project and Diepsloot pro-
ence. ject.

AG: Are you curators? MN: The measure is really difficult because it
does not have a sustainability angle to it. One cannot
MN: If you talk about curating art into a pub- see a one-hour project regardless of what it is, as an
lic space, I would then say yes. The role of contempo- incident by itself. You need to spend enough time
rary artists very often falls into curatorial practice. going back and nurturing that relationship. These
It’s very much like art and design, they are crosso- projects are no different from one another; they are
vers; in today’s thinking there are so many crosso- dealing with similar issues. For me, the success is to
vers. For the convention of curator in the museum zoom out and say there are these interventions and
space, there is a clear and defined role. There’s this is how we learn from them. For example, we
another avenue we should explore where we don’t brought artists from Mamelodi for a project we are
have to define, too much, the curator in relation to doing in Solly Mahlangu Freedom Square, artists
the artist. Gabi Ngcobo, for example, is someone from Soweto on a project we did on Vilakazi Street,
whom I consider more of an artist than a curator. from Alex and Diepsloot, together at a public art
However she’ll tell you that she’s a curator, and that’s conference. This was in order for them to share their
her role. But the projects that you’re doing are of an experiences and what it meant to work in a public
interesting dynamic, and of boundary-pushing ele- space. This is an exposure to the other. So the success
ments, which is so nice to see, that the artist comes is not whether it happens for one hour or happens
out of the curator and so why can’t it work the other for three years, but you can zoom out and allow these
way around? Similarly, I’m an artist. I’ve thought things to interconnect, and you start seeing that ten
about spatial practice for all my professional life. I’ve years later Nkosana Ngubeze, who was part of our
thought about how to design and organize my own initial workshops in Wolmerand Street for example,
creativity and other people’s creativity in a public is now running public art programmes in schools in
space all my professional life. If I’ve gone through Soweto. He’s developing major mosaics and is com-
that process and I end up laying things out in a space missioned to make works in spaces such as Yeoville.
using other artists’ talents, surely I’m a curator even You look at that and say that that’s not only because
though I’m not trained as a curator officially. Stephen of that one workshop, but because he was there, then
had experience as a curator at the Market Theatre appeared in many other places, and developed his
gallery, doing an incredible job putting together a own projects, and the city has brought him on to be
post-apartheid program. So you can step back and part of other projects. Then his capacity as a pro-
say he is as much a curator as he is an artist. ducer has shifted all these many boundaries. He’s
For the sake of maintaining the discipline, it is become a project manager, he’s become a curator, he’s
necessary to have set boundaries between artist and become a teacher, and he’s this multi-faceted and
curator. In my thinking, however, there should be a skilled individual who is rich with experience. And
breaking down of those boundaries more and more. that for me is the success of one project. And it’s
Similarly, a lot of artists will say we need higher difficult to measure that.
profile artists to compete globally in the biennials.
And art is art and we need to respect art. My think- Remark by AG: In an article titled “Collectiv-
ing is, art in today’s society, where there is famine ism—Facts and Curiosities”, Joanne Laws questions, “If
and environmental issues and crises, and we don’t the internet is the mode of distribution and commu-
have people that queue to go into museums to view nication for these groups how can a distinction be
art in Johannesburg and where other things are more drawn between the overload of amateur or subversive
important. Maybe artists shouldn’t be so quick to collectives, and those with established reputations?”
defend their positions as artists, but rather should be (2010: n)2.

27 Issue 32 / October 2016

Marcus Neustetter of On Air In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

AG: Is it especially necessary for art collectives called the Manhattan Project. When they tested the
such as The Trinity Session to ensure engagement on atom bomb, the scientists said they saw the figure of
social networks and very public spheres, and how Christ in the mushroom cloud. And so they called
have you as a collective penetrated these spaces? the site, the trinity site. What fascinated us wasn’t the
religious aspect of it, but the vision that came out of
MN: We haven’t. The main reason is, we something that’s so destructive. So within the
believe in doing. Very often we use social media to destruction and the desolation came the visionary.
gather people. We only very recently started to publi- There’s something about that desolation and feeling
cize what we do, to show what we’re doing, and the of lostness that came in the year 2000. Post-apart-
only reason is because we’re low on business. We heid, budgets cut, artists like ourselves asking how do
realize that the clients that are out there that are we fit into this system; how do other artists work
spending the money, are not spending it on art. They now; how do you even build an artistic capital in the
have decided that art is no longer valuable and we’re townships, never mind in those spaces where artists
trying to show them why it’s valuable. We are show- have been trained? If you’re going to cut all the budg-
ing them that this is how we break new ground and ets how do you manoeuvre that? So out of this trinity
innovate. And that design thinking, the catch phrase, site, out of this desolation comes something you
is not something new but has existed for a long time; must envisage and imagine. So that’s how the name
it’s just been positioned differently and is now find- The Trinity Session came about; and session, like the
ing its place. Social media has never grabbed us, gig. For us this is symbolic.
almost for the trivial reason of social media. Things
come and go so quickly. Social media created some-
thing called “slacktivism”, a term coined at some Notes
conference. There’s a Facebook group called Africa 1 Maria-Alina Asavei, “Collectivism,” in
aid with over a million followers, which has managed Michael Kelly ed., Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, Second
to raise twenty thousand dollars to date, but if each Edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014.
of those followers gave a dollar, there would be a 2 Joanne Laws. 2010. “CollectivismFacts and
million dollars. I can be a part of a group and I can Curiosities.” Accessed 07. 07. 2015. http://joannel-
feel good about myself, but actually in today’s time aws.wordpress.com/2010/08/15/13
being part of a group is no longer that good. You
have to get up and make the difference at home,
make a difference in your community, nationally and
so forth. You actually need to take responsibility for
yourself if you want to survive on this planet. I find
social media has, in my opinion, for a long time been
a conditioning tool. It is changing now. It has been a
vehicle by big media machines to feed us stuff that
keeps us complacent, happy and indifferent, and I’ve
been very critical of it. We decided, do I want to be
looking at my phone or do I want to be out there
talking to people? And yes, I think we suffer. The
reason why a lot of what I’m telling you sounds new,
and it shouldn’t be is because we are not very good at
packaging what we do for the public to understand
in media. Instead we are reactionary, in that you
come and ask and we answer. I know we should be
publicizing more. Up until now, it has been the proof
of what we’ve done that has fed us, it has not neces-
sarily been our story to tell.

Neustetter closes our conversation by explain-

ing how the name The Trinity Session came about.

MN: The name The Trinity Session comes from

the name of the testing of the atom bomb in 1945

28 Issue 32 / October 2016

Marcus Neustetter of On Air In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Marcus Neustetter
Johannesburg based artist, cultural activist and
producer, Marcus Neustetter, reflects critically and playfully
on his context through his art and collaborative projects.
His strategy has been to pro-actively create, play and
experiment to build opportunities and experiences that
investigate, reflect and provoke. Mostly process driven, his
production of art at the intersection of art, science and
technology has led him to work in a multi-disciplinary
approach from conventional drawings to permanent and
temporary site specific installations, mobile and virtual
interventions and socially engaged projects internationally.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on the
14 November 1976, Marcus Neustetter attended the
Deutsche Schule zu Johannesburg from 1982 to 1994. He
read for his Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts at the University
of the Witwatersrand, earning his Masters Degree in 2001.
During this time he launched sanman (Southern African
New Media Art Network). In the past 10 years Marcus
Neustetter has been consistently producing and exhibiting
art and, in partnership with Stephen Hobbs, has been
active with The Gallery Premises (closed 2008), The
Trinity Session and in their collaborative capacity as
Hobbs/Neustetter.
Neustetter currently resides at the Maboneng
Prescint in Johannesburg South Africa.

Abongile Gwele is a Bachelor of Technology in

Fine Arts Graduate of the Tshwane University of Technol-
ogy. She completed her studies in 2012. In 2010, Gwele
volunteered at the Pretoria Arts Museum as an Education
Assistant, as part of a team at the museum working with
and under Mmutle Arthur Kgokong, who is the Education
Officer for the museum. In her training at the museum,
her focus was as a Junior Curator to the museum, and she
underwent an extensive curating program alongside
two other students from the University of Pretoria. They
co-curated several exhibitions over their three years as
Junior Curators of the Museum. In 2012, Gwele’s BTech
year at TUT, she became a part-time arts and design
lecturer at the British International College for a year and
full time lecturer for the two years to follow. She is currently
residing in Centurion South Africa and will be joining the
Postgraduate Programme in Curating, ZHdK.

29 Issue 32 / October 2016

Marcus Neustetter of On Air In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

1 2

3 4

5 6

30 Issue 32 / October 2016

Marcus Neustetter of On Air In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Captions
1–3: The Trinity Session in partner with the
Diepsloot Arts and Culture Network and Sticky
Situations Commissioned by the Johannesburg
Development Agency, Diepsloot I love you/ I love you
not, 2013. Courtesy of The Trinity Session.
4 Clive van den Berg Commissioned by the
Johannesburg Development Agency and the Braam-
fontein Improvement District, implemented by The
Trinity Session, Eland, 2007. Courtesy of The Trinity
Session.
5–6 The Trinity Session in partnership with a
network of Alexandra artists and visiting artists from
Zimbabwe and Mozambique Supported by the SDC
Program of Pro Helvetia Cape Town, Borderless, 2012.
Courtesy of The Trinity Session.

31 Issue 32 / October 2016

PAPERS

32 Issue 32 / October 2016

Counting On Your Collective Silence In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Counting On Your
Collective Silence
Notes on Activist Art
by Gregory G. Sholette
Hi Greg,
As I’m thinking about your questions on collective practice, I’m disturbed but not
surprised to sense that it would be far easier for me to speak about the difficulties of collabo-
rative work than to outline the things which draw me to it. Here are a few of the positive
aspects…that are important to me: Working as a collective or collaborative means that we
can do projects on a scale that one person could only do with great difficulty. Resources, skills,
interests, knowledge and ideas are pooled. This contributes to the overall political and aes-
thetic complexity, diversity and effectiveness of the projects. Working on these projects
involves developing collaborative practices which, however problematic, visibly reject a culture
of hyper-individualism in favor of other models of “work” and of social (and even personal)
responsibility.
David Thorne,
Resistant Strains art collective, NYC, 1999

From the swipe of a plastic debit card at the grocery store to the surveillance
of so-called public spaces to the labels in your undergarments, an administered
collectivity hides everywhere in plain sight. Every ‘I’ conceals an involuntary
“belongingness,” every gesture a statistic about purchasing power, education and
the market potential of your desire. A new IBM computer program named “Clever”
even detects what its designers call “communities in their nascent stages.” Clever
locates these web-based fraternities “even before members are aware of their
community’s existence” by tracing the electronic links “spontaneously” generated
between users.1 Therefor if collective incorporation is so unrelenting that it can be
revealed by a machine, one might question why non-individual cultural activity is
treated as the exception? Conversely, how can the artist be defined as an autono-
mous producer detached from politics, history, and the market?

While postmodernism may have deflated the status of the auteur, the art
industry and its discourse nevertheless remain dependent on a litany of individual
name-brand producers that circulates like global aesthetic currency. As the
collective Critical Art Ensemble succinctly put it:

“The individual’s signature is still the prime collectible, and access to the
body associated with the signature is a commodity that is desired more than
ever–so much so, that the obsession with the artist’s body has made its way
into “progressive” and alternative art networks. Even community art has its
stars, its signatures, and its bodies. ” 2.

By contrast, when a group of artists “self-institutionalize” themselves to

produce collaborative or collective work, the critical response if any, falls into

33 Issue 32 / October 2016

Counting On Your Collective Silence In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

consideration of only a few distinct categories: 1. Art world duos like Gilbert and
George, Komar and Melamid or Sophie and Hans Arp, in which a methodology
grounded on individual art practice is indiscriminately applied to two; 2. Collective
authorship as a backdrop for discussing the evolution of an individual’s career: e.g.,
Kiki Smith as former member of Collaborative Projects or Joseph Kosuth as
cofounder of Art & Language; 3. The art collective as representative of an entire
historical mis en scene, as when the 1980s became the decade of the activist art
group.

In her essay “Connective Aesthetics: Art after Individualism,” critic Suzi

Gablik argued for a new kind of artist who understands that “the boundary
between self and Other is fluid rather than fixed: the Other is included within the
boundary of selfhood.” (Gablik 84) However, boundaries both real and imaginary
are historically determined and often harshly material. By contrast I understand
conflict and difference, rather than “merging,” to be necessary for the formation of
the collective. Furthermore such incipient abrasiveness must carry over to the
routine functioning of the group possibly sparking, violent repercussions both
inside the collective and between the collective and existing institutional forms. As
anyone who has worked in this way will attest, the effort required to sustain
collective work rises in direct proportion to the professional and emotional toll
extracted on constituency. Yet it is exactly this state of overdetermination –the
heterogeneity of membership, the meetings where too much is attempted or
rejected, too much brought to the table and left off the table, the fleeting ecstasy
of collaborative expenditure and a space suddenly opened to the unpredictable
effects of class, race, gender, sexual preference, age, divergences in ability, knowl-
edge and career status –all of this can never be encompassed within the group
identity per se; yet this excess is what makes the collective viable.

Perhaps the central concern of this text is to rethink the way collective
practice is apprehended. Instead of the individual opposed to the collective or the
artist deciding to work with the “community,” my contention is that “collectivity” in
one form or another is virtually an ontological condition of modern life. This
supposition guarantees that there is no location out of which an individual, an artist
for example, can operate alone in opposition to society. While this does not
invalidate the irrepressible desire to escape or radically re-write what Thomas
Hobbes called the social contract, it does allow us to re-configure the often stated
opposition between collective and individual as that of a displacement between
two kinds of collectives: one passive and reflexive, the other active and self-valoriz-
ing. In his text “Postscript on the Societies of Control” Gilles Deleuze outlined this
new world order insisting, “We no longer find ourselves dealing with the mass/
individual pair. Individuals have become ‘dividuals,’ and masses, samples, data,
markets, or “banks.”...Man is no longer man enclosed but man in debt.” (Deleuze 5)
Furthermore, the narrative of a recent science fiction film, The Matrix (1999 by
Larry and Andy Wachowsky) serves an example of how this condition of collective
indenture is already figured within mass culture. At the same time it offers insight
into why some artists choose to work collectively and others do not.3

“The collective nature of the work can be both exhilarating and exhausting.
Working with different peoples strengths; balancing individual needs and
interests with collective desires and demands… Problems in maintaining
public profile as a collective: making sure the same individuals don’t get
highlighted again and again in media coverage, allowing different people to
speak for the group while maintaining continuity. There is still the cult of the

34 Issue 32 / October 2016

Counting On Your Collective Silence In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

individual auteur and we as a collective sometimes become kind of invisible.—

Lisa Maya Knauer, discussing REPOhistory at the 10 year mark, NYC, 1999

What I recall most happily are particular periods of working, entering a sort
of “flow” state in current jargon together with others, all of us working
towards a common goal. This would have to be the “painting parties” held
[at ABC No Rio] for various purposes, mostly for Potato Wolf cable TV
productions... I felt like my ideas were begin hyped up and enhanced by
others in the group. —Alan Moore, Co-founder ABC No Rio, NYC

In his important re-working of the classical Marxist concept of ideology,

Fredric Jameson maintained that “the ideological function of mass culture is
understood as a process whereby otherwise dangerous and protopolitical impulses
are “managed” and defused, rechanneled and offered spurious objects…such
incentives, as well as the impulses to be managed by the mass cultural text, are
necessarily Utopian in nature.” (Jameson 287) Instead of simply masking the true
relations of power as argued by many theorists of ideology these “spurious objects”
satiate a concrete need that, referencing Walter Benjamin’s famed Thesis on the
Philosophy of History, Jameson has termed the “Political Unconscious.” If Benjamin
insisted that the radical historian must “seize hold of a memory as it flashes up at a
moment of danger” (Benjamin 255) Jameson’s elaboration requires that we
recognize “…figures [representations] for the ultimate concrete collective life of an
achieved Utopian or classless society” (Ibid 291) even in the “...most degraded of all
mass cultural texts, advertising slogans–visions of external life, of the transfigured
body, of preternatural sexual gratification–[these] may serve as the model of
manipulation on the oldest Utopian longings of humankind.” (Ibid 287)

If utopian desire forms a residual political unconscious or figurative narration

within mass culture then collectivity must be present as well. Perhaps the most
transparent figure of collective practice is that found in certain science fiction
narratives that depict a fantasy of organized resistance to collective occupation by
hostile “others”: aliens, vampires, mutant humans, and even computers. It is a
narrative that appear in films such as “They Live” by John Carpenter or George
Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” and in television series like “Buffy the Vampire
Slayer” and “V,” a 1980s made-for-television mini-series in which human resistance
fighters sabotage predacious aliens disguised as benevolent visitors. Reportedly “V”
even inspired an anti-Apartheid graffiti campaign when broadcast in South Africa.
“The Matrix” however is most explicit in the way it narrates desires and anxieties
about collectivization and resistance. The film takes place in an apocalyptic near
future that looks very much like the present. As the plot unfolds we discover that
“The Matrix” is the name for a virtual-reality simulation program replicating the
real world that is simultaneously fed into the cerebellum of the unknowing human
population by an artificial intelligence. The real world is in fact an enormous “farm”
in which humans are grown in liquid-filled vats stacked a mile high. However a small
number of humans have managed to “unplug” themselves from the electronic
hegemony of “The Matrix” and joined forces to free mankind from its hidden
bondage. What is revealing about this story is the way it represents two versions of
human collectivization. One is involuntary, consisting of massified bodies digitally
dreaming in a cavernous computerized nursery. Opposed to this reflexive collectiv-
ity is the militarized multi-ethnic cell made up of both men and women.

“The Matrix,” like “V” and other examples of this science fiction subgenre,
represents organized resistance to mass control as heterogeneous, self-sufficient
and culturally diverse. At times the violence of the enemy holding these micro-

35 Issue 32 / October 2016

Counting On Your Collective Silence In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

collectives together barely outweighs the collective’s internal antagonisms, as when

the Judas-like character in “The Matrix” betrays the group in exchange for return-
ing to the comfort of virtual simulation. The most important moment for the
occupation fantasy narrative is the de-concealment. The protagonist of “The
Matrix” is offered two “virtual” pills –one blue, one red. By choosing the blue pill he
will remain anesthetized within The Matrix. Ingesting the red pill however reveals
what lies behind its screen except that he can never turn back to the recompense of
the simulated world.

For artists who choose collective action (the red pill), an implicit collective
state that provides them with an illusion of individuality is displaced by a collectivity
made up of partial meanings and irregular shards of history. Taking the red pill also
means that the chimera of individual practice will never return at least with its
original luster intact. At some level most artists understand this choice.

The issue of rupture within community based artistic collaborations is an

important topic because rupture is an inherent part of the process of
working with the community... Communities are not made up of people who
are all the same, even if they are the same race. Communities imply a very
loose connection of people where cultural, racial and class issues are never a
homogeneous mix, and where questions of difference always surface.
—From “Some notes on rupture” unpublished text by Tomie Arai, Artist and
member of Godzilla, NYC: 1995.

The founding or “minting” of any group identity, either corporate or cultural,

is always dependent on the material that exceeds the group signature. But while the
capitalist, corporate identity aims at purification – a precise profile indefinitely
replicated to enhance consumption – the political and cultural collective identity
signifies something else: a recognition of the inherently collective texture of the
political and cultural that surrounds as well as intersects the group identity at all
times. This overdetermination even affects the day-to-day working procedure of
the non-hierarchical collective where sudden accelerations of enthusiasm are
followed by equally unexpected plunges in spirit. The Marxist theoretician
Antonio Negri describes such radical, concentrated excess as a “destructuration,”
by which I take him to mean both a demolition of capitalist totality and a recogni-
tion of the discontinuous nature of the working class (applied here to the cultural
collective.) (Negri 63) Negri’s formulation also implies that such arrangements are
always inherently at risk of destabilization.

Marx understood the complexity of representing new forms of political

organizing. Writing about the 1871 Paris Commune he emphasized the way this
historic insurrection was less a total break with history and more of an active
re-absorption by the masses of their own alienated powers previously turned
against them in the form of the state. Although the Commune lasted only three
months, Parisians still managed during this time to declare universal suffrage, to
install a communal government and to decree that all governmental officials be
paid only workmen’s wages. It is worth contrasting Marx’s re-appropriation of state
control with the “Society of Control” described by Gilles Deleuze, which lacks any
single instrument of oppression; not the state, the factory, or the prison. He argues
that Today a diffused “universal modulation” forces the individual into a perpetual
state of mutation as continuously shifting systems of surveillance, education, and
work replace any fixed locus of power. Without collapsing these different concep-
tions of the social body– one analogical the other digital– it is possible to see that
each presents us with an economy of forces in which acts of displacement alternate

36 Issue 32 / October 2016

Counting On Your Collective Silence In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

with routines of administration. In both cases resistance depends upon recognizing

its very possibility within the familiar. Marx describes the predicament this way:

It is generally the fate of completely new historical creations to be mistaken

for the counterpart of older and even defunct forms of social life, to which
they may bear a certain likeness. Thus the new Commune, which breaks the
modern State power, has been mistaken for a reproduction of the mediaeval
Communes, which first preceded, and afterwards became the substratum of,
that very State power.
—Karl Marx, Civil War in France)

For Marx the Paris Commune was a displacement in which a unique histori-
cal event outwardly replicates an archaic but well-known form: in this case the
medieval commune (recall the deceptive role simulation of the familiar plays in the
pop-culture example of The Matrix). Deleuze also understands the challenge of
recognizing resistance from within the “society of control” when he rhetorically
muses “can we already grasp the rough outlines of these coming forms, capable of
threatening the joys of marketing?” (Deleuze 7) His question, which explicitly adds
the problem of pleasure to the one of recognition that Marx raises, might be
provisionally answered with the politically engaged artists collective if this is
understood, as proposed here, not as a unity of differences but as the overdeter-
mined arrangement akin to what Negri describes as the “radical, irreducible
differentness of the revolutionary movement.”
Above all else the activist art collective is a de facto critique of the bourgeois
public sphere. Not only does the heterogeneous nature of such groups question
the apparent separation of public and private space, but also the process of
self-institutionalization itself inevitably assimilates political functions normally
allocated to the bourgeois public sphere. Sometimes the act of governing is
consciously invoked, at other times simply manifest, but eventually the politics of
the collective are thrust into view. For the members of the collective this means
deciding amongst themselves what kind of decision-making process they will
operate under including what the rules will be regarding membership (should it be
open to all who attend meetings, or just active participants?) and voting (do
motions pass using a simple majority or through consensus by every member?).
Ironically it is often the process of internal politicization that reveals the lack of
historical memory among such groups. Consider the following texts excerpted
from the minutes of three politically-engaged artists collectives in New York City:
AMCC (Artists Meeting for Cultural Change, 1975 to 1977), PAD/D (Political Art
Documentation and Distribution, 1980-1986, actively), and REPOhistory (1989-pre-
sent):

Our most urgent task right now is to find a more representative method of
arriving at true agreement within the group. Not to do this is to doom us to
continual tactical maneuvering using these rules–tactics that, as was amply
demonstrated last week, lead to destructive polarization and quite palpable
disunity...In this group we are not looking for “victory” of one strand of
opinion over another. In fact, this machismo, warlike attitude within the
group is entirely contrary to everything that we should be struggling
towards... —AMCC document: 1/30/77 (collection AnnMarie Rousseau).

I noticed there were certain men or people who could say just about
anything and everyone was ‘attentive’. Those who do the most work, those
with the most responsibility, those with the most political sophistication
and those who have a degree of establishment in the art field have the most

37 Issue 32 / October 2016

Counting On Your Collective Silence In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

“power.”...We live in a hierarchical world. The fact that some of it translates

into PADD is obvious...—An open letter to PAD/D from a member: October,
1983
KL felt that there was a consensus from the last meeting that membership
take active tasks.…
LK felt that analyzing tasks would help redistribute work. She said that some
people have resentment because they do not know where the task openings
are.
KL said that tasks will shift given the projects we are working on….
PL thought we should take a look at who’s doing what and why.
HB wanted to understand how this list would related to project tasks.
TT thought that the person within a project...could become the delegate to
work in a general REPO working group.
LK felt that certain people end up doing too much of the work and this
person would be doing twice the work...It is important that more people get
involved in this decision.
REPOhistory minutes, January 4, 1993

The repetition demonstrated here is all the more remarkable when you
consider that the selections span nearly twenty years and that the three group’s
embrace overlapping membership. Obvious lessons might be drawn from this
about the deficiency of not having a history or theory about collective practice, or
how the burdens of decision making, division of labor and power sharing are not
mitigated simply because people choose to work cooperatively. Because activist art
collectives are naturally suspicious of establishment politics, each new group tends
to reinvent organizational processes already attempted or sometimes even
abandoned by other similar institutions. Therefore what appears to be a blank
screen on which to project some new radical form of selfgovernment might better
be understood as a surface so overly etched with traces of language, history,
knowledge and material conditions that it merely appears empty. These traces
cannot be navigated without first recognizing the way in which language and spatial
metaphors are used, consciously or not, by the collective. The problem is similar to
that characterized by Jacques Derrida in his essay “The Ends of Man: Reading Us,”
first published in France in 1969. Questioning what paths lead to radical change the
philosopher suggests there remain only:

...the choice between two strategies: a. To attempt an exit and a deconstruc-

tion without changing terrain...[in which] one risks ceaselessly confirming,
consolidating, relifting (relever), at an always more certain depth, that which
one deconstructs...” b. “To decide to change terrain, in a discontinuous and
irruptive fashion, by brutally placing oneself outside” [risking a form of]
“tromp-l’oeil perspective in which such a displacement can be caught,
thereby inhabiting more naively and more strictly than ever the inside one
declares one has deserted... —Derrida 135

Derrida’s solution to this dilemma insists that, “A new writing must weave
and interlace these two motifs of deconstruction. Which amounts to saying that one
must speak several languages and produce several texts at once.” –But how can we
remember and forget, repeat and interrupt, have a history as well as start over
again? One possible answer is to map Derrida’s musings about ontology onto the
very corporeal plurality of the activist art collective, to read it as a variegated body.

One main factor of this period [early 1980s] was its generosity in trying to
include everyone– artist and nonartist, good or bad art, etc. in exhibitions.

38 Issue 32 / October 2016

Counting On Your Collective Silence In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

This may be why [Lucy R.] Lippard’s writing at that time in my eyes was more
documentation (in the sense of listing artists and artworks in a matter of fact
way) of this growing subculture away from the art-market, and not criticism
directed to judge the quality of a work of art.” —Todd Ayoung, NYC, 1999,
artist and founding member of REPOhistory and Godzilla.

Certainly the contingencies Derrida enumerates play themselves out within

and around the art collective including the unwitting consolidation of prevailing
power relations –masculinist authority, overcentralization, bureaucracy– and
perhaps even more insidiously what he calls a tromp-l’oeil effect in which an
imagined escape route is but a projection of present limitations. Nevertheless the
exclusion of the collective, in particular the activist art collective, from within the
larger cultural discourse (including what is termed “left” or Progressive) seems to
indicate a potential for something necessarily uncomfortably, other and plural. If
Derrida’s question of “who, we?” were posed to such a group entity the response
would come as a shimmer of voices, historical narratives and political positions.
Within the overflowingness of collective identity then are both figures of resistance
and, something resembling what Derrida has recently termed a “certain experience
of the promise.”

If Deleuze asserts “there is no need to fear or hope, but only to look for new
weapons” (Ibid) Derrida insists that “one can try to liberate [the promise] from any
dogmatics and even from any metaphysicoreligious determination, from any
messianism.” He also states that “…a promise must be kept, that is, not to remain
“spiritual” or “abstract,” but to produce effects, new effective forms of action,
practice, organization, and so forth.” (Derrida, Specters 89). This anti-teleological
potentiality is not unlike Jameson’s Political Unconscious or Benjamin’s moment of
historical danger. And if the “promise” must be made concrete, it may indeed be
glimpsed in the activist art collective’s inherent capacity for self-regulation,
independent production and control over its own distribution. Undoubtedly this
prospect is what is so anathema to the art market and its discourse. And because
this capacity is latent within all productive activity, administrators and regulators,
including the society of control, recognize and react against it. Ironically, the activist
art collective often displays its own self-mastery with unregulated acts of produc-
tion and aesthetic incontinence: two operations forbidden by an industry that
depends upon the illusion of scarcity and the predictability of goods (the consist-
ency of an artist’s style and nowadays her persona as well.4) Perhaps this more than
any imagined threat to a lingering ideology of artistic autonomy is what motivates
the exclusion of collective practice from the critical discourse of art. A closer look
at the mechanics of what Negri calls “self-valorization” may help decide this
question:

Authorship was an interesting issue and any given piece was undercut by this
transindividual author: Blue Funk. The overall result was a strange and
liberating experience. We were like some multitracked techno recording that
is indistinguishable in a given space. If we followed any model I doubt if we
could agree on it maybe a band that is kept together by the tensions pulling
it apart. —Brian Hand, Founding member of Blue Funk; a chiefly British state
of great terror, Dublin, 1999.

Artistic self-valorization can be read as a re-appropriation directed against

the market’s need to reign in an artist’s production and stylistic trademark. That
self-restraint is virtually built into an artist’s education and reiterated in one form
or another within the marketplace through dealers, critics and even by other

39 Issue 32 / October 2016

Counting On Your Collective Silence In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

artists. However within the relative sanctuary of the group identity this pressure is
meliorated to the point that being part of a collective often means experimenting
with different styles and technologies that would otherwise be disruptive to one’s
career. Even more troubling from the point of view of the culture industry is the
way in which self-valorization allows collectives to establish their own criteria about
what is art and who can make art. Such aesthetic self-validation is typically
extended, like stolen goods, from the collective to artists who have been locked-
out of traditional venues for reasons of political or cultural content or simply
because of the stinginess of the art market. This pilfered aesthetic aura is even
transferable from the collective to non-artists who become ordained (provisionally)
as bona fide aesthetic producers.
In 1984 for example the feminist art collective Carnival Knowledge invited
porn-stars to become artists for their exhibition entitled The Second Coming at
Franklin Furnace. Group Material went so far as to use the frame of the museum to
legitimate this self-endowed collective munificence. Group Material’s 1989 project
the AIDS Timeline included paintings and sculpture as well as bumper stickers, vide-
otapes, t-shirts and news clippings. Thus the self-institutionalizing group-form
offers-up evidence that control over the means of artistic production not only is
not the exclusive domain of collectors and dealers, curators and critics, but it is they
who have appropriated this role from artists themselves.

Finally, because all issues of aesthetics will ultimately get settled at the bank,
we must ask if it is possible to collect the collective?
Which is to say under what circumstances would the group signature–its
minting or coinage if you like–be capable of being possessed? Certainly specific
objects produced by Group Material, the Guerrilla Girls, Gran Fury and other
collectives have found their way into museums, archives, and private collections.
But this only raises the question differently: how can one comprehend artistic
group authorship? The answer seems to depend upon the possibility of even
conceiving such a thing as a group signature proper (as opposed to say a collection
of signatures or gathering of styles). Such a thing, if it did exist, would openly
dispute the fiction of the individual mark–that unique sign that guarantees the
authors absence only by virtue of being infinitely repeatable. It leads us to question
the economy of this seemingly unique mark, not only within the art industry and its
discourse, but its function within all administered forms of collectivity including the
Society of Control. If we were to answer that artistic value is determined today by a
sphincter-like regulation of the individual mark with all that it represents, then
considering what has been said about the excess and instability of group identity a
collective signature would by definition be incomprehensible. Not unlike the
grotesque truth of The Matrix, recognition of the collective condition demands its
price, both individually and professionally.

Regarding the practice of collective, activist art, this essay is neither compre-
hensive nor conclusive. It is an open question as to whether the observations here
can apply more broadly to other forms of cooperative work. The self-valorizing art
collective, with all of its volatility and repetition may be resistant to Deleuze’s
Society of Control if for no other reason than its sheer generosity of material,
aesthetic and political production. Overdetermined and discontinuous, the
collective assembles the needs, affiliations, differences and even afflictions of
others in a space suddenly open to the possibility of social equality and self-man-
agement. Even under the best circumstances the collective is fueled by these
differences as well as destabilized by them.
Still, if not for the intellectual and occasionally rapturous pleasure made
available, uniquely I believe, through sustained and voluntary collective activity and

40 Issue 32 / October 2016

Counting On Your Collective Silence In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

undoubtedly linked to this same economy of displacement and re-appropriation, no

one would ever ingest the red pill. After all, the art world is counting on your
collective silence.

This essay first appeared in the November 1999 issue of Afterimage:

The Journal of Media and Cultural Criticism, pp. 18–20.
This text is being made available for scholarly purposes only. You are free to
copy an distribute it, but never for commercial profit. Please attribute the author
whenever quoted or cited. All illustrations are included here solely for educational
purposes.

Notes
1 Undoubtedly the marketing potential for such a program is enormous,
see: Robinson, Sara «Thousands of Undiscovered Web Communities» in The New
York Times, (June 10, 1999), D3.
2 Critical Art Ensemble, «Observations on Collective Cultural Action» was
originally published in Art Journal, (Summer 1998), pg. 73-85.
3 In this regard my essay is especially indebted to the decades-old interdisci-
plinary artist’s collective REPOhistory whose current membership –Stephanie
Basch, Neil Bogan, Jim Costanzo, Cynthia Liesenfeld, Tom Klem, Lisa Maya Knauer,
Janet Koenig, Mark O’Brien, Jayne Pagnuccio, George Spencer, and Gregory
Sholette– together with former members such as Todd Ayoung, Edward Eisenberg,
Betti-Sue Hertz, Lucy Lippard, Carin Kuoni, Kara Lynch, Chris Neville, Liza Prown,
Megan Pugh, Tess Timoney, Jodi Wright, and numerous transitory collaborators
have informed my thinking and writing.
The questions asked of participants were as follows:
Describe one particular incident –from a crisis to a hilarious situation – that
represents some key feature of the process of working with others “beneath” a
collective name/project: Other than joint authorship what other aspects of
collaborative work– aesthetic, political, communal–-set it apart from individual
cultural production? (again you can use a specific example from your experience):
Are there any specific historical or theoretical models –pop cultural refer-
ences, personal incentives–of collaborative/collective work you feel relate to your
own experiences?:
Any other thoughts or anecdotes you wish to add?
4 On the politics of artistic “inclusiveness” see Gregory Sholette, “News
from Nowhere: Activist Art & After: Report from New York” in Third Text, Spring:
1999. And for a critical discussion of the tendency by which artists “...embody (or
at least speak for) any number of subject positions and identities, simply by virtue
of being an artist.” see Grant H. Kester in “Alternative Arts Sector and the Imagi-
nary Public” in Art, Activism, & Oppositionality: Essays from Afterimage ed. Grant
H. Kester (Durham NC: Duke University Press, 1988), p. 126

Works Cited
Walter Benjamin, “Thesis on the Philosophy of History” in Illuminations:
Essay and Reflections, ed. Hannah Arendt, (New York: Schocken Books, 1968.)
Gilles Deleuze, “Post-Script on the Societies of Control” in October ( Massa-
chusetts: MIT Press, Winter number 59,1992.)
Jacques Derrida, “The Ends of Man” in Margins of Philosophy, (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1982.)
Jacques Derrida, Specters of Marx: The State of Debt, the Work of Mourning, &
the New International (London: Routledge Press, 1994.)

41 Issue 32 / October 2016

Counting On Your Collective Silence In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Suzi Gablik, Connective Aesthetics: Art after Individualism in Mapping the Terrain:
New Genre Public Art, ed. Suzanne Lacy, (Seattle: Bay Press,1995.)
Fredric Jameson, The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act
(Ithaca New York: Cornell University Press, 1981.)
Karl Marx, The Civil War in France (China: Foreign Language Press Peking, 1970.)
Antonio Negri, “Domination and Sabotage” in Italy: Autonomia Post-Political
Politics, Semiotext(e) (New York: Capital City Press Inc., Vol.III, No. 3, 1980.)

Gregory Sholette is a New York-based artist, writer, activist and founding member
of Political Art Documentation/Distribution (PAD/D: 1980-1988), REPOhistory (1989-
2000). The PAD/D Archive is now available to scholars and artists at the MoMA, REPOhis-
tory began as a study group of artists, scholars, teachers, and writers focused on public
signage exploring the politics of history within NYC. Gulf Labor’s research about the
intersection of precarious labor and high art was recently featured at the 2015 Venice
Biennial. Sholette’s publications include It’s The Political Economy, Stupid co-edited with
Oliver Ressler, Dark Matter: Art and Politics in an Age of Enterprise Culture, both Pluto
Press UK, as well as Collectivism After Modernism with Blake Stimson University of
Minnesota Press, and The Interventionists with Nato Thompson distributed by MIT. He has
contributed to such journals as Eflux, Critical Inquiry, Texte zur Kunst, October, Art Journal
and Manifesta Journal among others. His recent art installations include Imaginary Archive
at the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania and the White Box at
Zeppelin University, Germany. His collaborative performance project Precarious Workers
Pageant premiered in Venice on August 7, 2015. Sholette is a graduate of the Whitney
Independent Study Program in Critical Theory and is an Associate of the Art, Design and
the Public Domain program at the Graduate School of Design Harvard University, served as
a Curriculum Committee member of Home WorkSpace Beirut education program, and is an
Associate Professor in the Queens College Art Department, City University of New York
where he helped establish the new MFA Concentration SPQ (Social Practice Queens).
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/gregsholette
http://gregorysholette.com
http://darkmatterarchives.net
http://www.socialpracticequeens.org/

42 Issue 32 / October 2016

For Whom Are Biennials Organised? In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

For Whom Are Biennials

Organised?
Elvira Dyangani Ose
When Princess Marilyn Douala-Bell and Didier Schaub arrived in Cameroun
in the late 1980s, they made an agreement: they would have their third child.
Princess Marilyn, the second generation of a long dynasty of a prominent family,
grew up always knowing that she was part of the local intelligentsia. At the end of
the day, she was the daughter of King Bell and granddaughter of Rudolph Douala
Manga Bell, key figure in the local struggles for independence, who was hanged in
1914 for opposing German colonial rule. Princess Marilyn studied in Europe, in
Paris to be precise, for many years. It was there that she trained as social scientist
and met her husband, Didier, a French art historian, critic and curator. Like in any
other beautiful story, they fell in love, got married and decided to move to Douala
– Marilyn’s homeland.

In 1991, their third child was born. She showed a little bit of both parents.
Like her mother, she inherited a strong sense of commitment to the community.
The aim of any initiative she embarked upon was to reach and involve as many
people, and from as many cultural backgrounds, as possible. Her purpose was ‘to
intervene in people’s every day experience, questioning the urban environment we
all live with,’ as she declared when she became more mature. Like her father, she
would soon develop a deep appreciation for all arts, particularly those striving for a
new understanding of the collective and the social. She was immediately allured by
artistic experimentation, politically engaged practices and cultural forms question-
ing the public sphere.

There she was, little Doual’art. The heiress of the political legacy of the
Douala Manga Bell, but also fabulous whizz-kid, in her own right, open to all kinds
of new relational poetics. (And just to clarify, I refer here to artistic practices
involved in what Édouard Glissant defines as ‘poetics of relation’, which recognise
the other in ourselves and include the inscription of both the individual and the
collective, in one sole social dimension – just to summarise very briefly…).
Here is when the story turns into reality… so you have to imagine, like in the
movies, images fading to black… the cartoons turning into real people, and the
fictional narrative moving into documentary mode.

The earlier years of Doual’art were marked by the absence of a proper

venue. In trying to define its own identity, the organisation staged various actions
in the city using mainly the language of visual arts, with occasional incursions into
the realm of live and performing arts. Lacking a permanent space, and using that
lack as its organising principle, the association worked together with established
international venues, local cultural entrepreneurs and artists, but Princess Marilyn
and Didier also turned to the public space, engaging with various communities and
urban landscapes to disseminate what from then onwards would constitute
Doual’art’s main modus operandi. That incursion in the public space, as well as in the
public sphere, proved fundamental in shaping the character of this initiative, a
pioneer in the African continent as the earliest experimental laboratory focusing

43 Issue 32 / October 2016

For Whom Are Biennials Organised? In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

on artistic practices engaging with new understandings and interpretations of

publicness. Until then, no one else in the country had engaged in that sort of
endeavour.

(Just as a side note: there are obvious precedents to Doual’art’s spirit of

publicness in the emergence of a trans-disciplinary aesthetics in urban Africa, as
defined by artist collectives’ initiatives and socio-political movements in modern
Africa. This aesthetics is neither a depository of modern ideologies on national
culture – as determined by the newly independent nation-states’ cultural policies
nor does it pursue decolonising or identitarian prerogatives. It is rooted, rather, in a
clear commitment to the notion of the social, of the collective, and in the belief
that political revolution can eventually be effective in aesthetic terms and that art
can bring about social justice.

This aesthetics began in the late 1970s, but only in the past two decades has
it noticeably proliferated. Whereas recent scholarship acknowledges international
events in the 1990s – such as DAK’ART, the Biennale de l’Art Africain Contempo-
rain as the source of a significant shift in contemporary African art and aesthetics, I
would propose instead that it is in local initiatives led by artist collectives – against
cultural narratives and policies proposed by national institutions – that one can
find the genesis for change and experimentation within the arts. Fundamental to
this equation as well are the cross-cultural conversations of a Pan-African and
African diasporic character taking place throughout the twentieth century, but
which took on a crucial significance since late 1960s in relation to major interna-
tional festivals and professional encounters, such as the First World Festival of
Negro Arts in Dakar, Senegal (1966), the First Pan-African Cultural Festival, PANAF,
in Algiers, Algeria (1969), and the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts
and Culture, FESTAC ’77, in Lagos, Nigeria. A historical analysis of these events
might provide an alternative narration of history that can assist us not only in
understanding the inherent role of art in politics, but also in reactivating our
political relationship to the practice of art in the realm of global politics.)

By the mid-1990s, Doual’art had firmly established itself in the city, mainly
thanks to the opening, in 1995, of its permanent venue, L’Espace Doual’art. With a
programme of roughly a dozen exhibitions per year, the space soon became a hub
for visual artists who from then onwards would have a steady opportunity to
address diverse audiences with their latest productions. However, interaction with
the public space did not cease. In 1996, as a result of a 30-month-long conversa-
tion between Doual’art, the neighbours and authorities of the Deido district and
artist Joseph F. Sumegne, the monumental sculpture La Nouvelle Liberté was
inaugurated. A formidable 12-metre-high figure that dominates one of the most
transited roundabouts in the city, made of locally-sourced recycled material, the
statue prompted a lively and far-reaching debate on the meaning of art and its role
in the country’s social and political fabric. Art, in that sense, proposed a new reality
that interfered with the city-space and its everyday experience, but also with
Douala’s socio-historical process. Creativity and imagination were necessary
faculties for knowledge and change – art that was made with and for its audience.
Art was a social fact.

From that moment onwards, the quest for the formation and materialisa-
tion of these new urban imaginaries took shape in their support of ad hoc initia-
tives, such as the Bessengue City Project, led by late artist Goddy Leye, who,
inspired by the project, in 2003 opened ArtBakery, a centre for contemporary art
in Bonnendale, another district of Douala. ArtBakery’s activities included, among

44 Issue 32 / October 2016

For Whom Are Biennials Organised? In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

other things, a residency programme for visual artists and a training programme
in art and visual culture for all ages, as well as support for young artists, critics
and curators, promoting the use of new technologies and establishing ongoing
interaction with the community.
Other initiatives included international workshops such as Les Ateliers
Urbains, in which twenty artists from Central Africa were invited to interact with
the inhabitants of Bessengue for two weeks, resulting in a series of events involv-
ing various artistic expressions – painting, sculpture, poetry and music, among
others. Later on, the workshops were transformed into two initiatives: a biennial
meeting called Arts & Urbis, gathering together artists, curators, urbanists,
architects and cultural and social workers, and the triennial Salon Urbain de
Douala or SUD, which would constitute the culmination of their initial attempt
at public dialogue provoked by La Nouvelle Liberté.

There have been four editions of Arts & Urbis, always taking place the year
before the triennial, and three editions of SUD. I have had the good fortune to
participate in two of them: the first one in 2010, in collaboration with artist Younès
Rahmoun, and the second in 2013, when, in collaboration with Marilyn and Didier,
I curated a series of ephemeral artistic interventions by artist collective The Trinity
Sessions, and dancers and choreographers Nelisiwe Xaba and Faustin Linyekula.
Doual’art’s projects and, particularly, its triennial, incorporate two new
elements fundamental to that aesthetics I spoke about earlier: the significance
of the space in which the art intervention is being produced and a clear reflection
on the social relationships established in that space.
In his reading of the city of Johannesburg, urbanist Abdoumaliq Simone
first coined the notion of people as infrastructure, with which he explored certain
activities of the inhabitants of South Africa’s main megalopolis, the resourcefulness
of these residents’ day-to-day experience and their incredible capacity to live
multiple temporalities. Under that definition of infrastructure– normally inter-
preted in physical terms – Simone included primarily the generation of social
compositions across a range of individual capacities and needs, and the ‘economic
collaboration among residents seemingly marginalised from and immiserated by
urban life’. To Simone, the ability of the city’s residents to overcome precarious-
ness and ‘engage complex combinations of objects, spaces, persons, and practices’
far beyond the place and time that technocracy provided them with has defined
the flexibility and open-ended character, not only of Johannesburg, but also of
many other African cities, like Douala. I believe that Doual’art’s projects resonate
vividly with Simone’s notion of people as infrastructure.

One could argue that the radical presence of that informality as a way of life
and an increased social participation of the citizenry in the public sphere, against
the constraints of regulatory systems, is indeed one of the main characteristics
of this African city. Furthermore, I believe that this set of combinations functions
in the here and now – whenever it might happen, as I said earlier, as residents
operate in multiple spaces and temporalities – as much as it ultimately affects the
potential social compositions or, to use Glissant’s terms, one-sole-social dimension.
That is to say, the effectiveness of those combinations is the condition of possibil-
ity of new social formations and imaginaries.
This is particularly prominent in the context of inner cities, and if you like,
in the case of secondary cities in which central governments seem to have less
interest or power. It is not by chance that most of the initiatives of Doual’art have
taken place in those interstitial spaces between the city centre and the rest, or far
away from the centres of power, as in the case of the Rencontres Picha. Biennale de
Lubumbashi, my second and last example. Believe or not, I have only spoken about

45 Issue 32 / October 2016

For Whom Are Biennials Organised? In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

my experience in Lubumbashi on two other occasions, and whenever I tried to

theorise it – not that I have to, necessarily – I find that the rhetoric of my academic
research does not do justice to what is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime experience in
my career as a curator.
I was invited by artist Sammy Baloji and writer Patrick Mudekereza to
continue a conversation that they started as founding directors of Picha Art Centre
and the Lubumbashi Biennale, with international artists in 2008 and with curator
Simon Njami in 2010.
The edition I curated was based on a notion of Enthusiasm, a review of
Jean-François Lyotard’s paradigms of audience and participation, in conversation
with Simone’s notion of people as infrastructure, mirroring practices, such as those
of Doual’art, motivated by the possibility of reflecting on the event, on the
experience itself, as institution.

The Biennale, an artist-run initiative, mirrors Picha’s programme – that is to

say, it is mainly devoted to three media: photography, video and literature. The way
we imagined the project, as a project of projects, was translated into workshops
exploring the interstitial spaces and blurred boundaries of those disciplines. Thus,
photography related to a larger sense of visual cultural production and printmaking;
video stood for moving-image projects; and literature reflected on wider nuances of
the term text. A fourth workshop on the city of Lubumbashi also took place,
assembling a group of architects, artists, geographers, writers, politicians and other
professionals and members of local communities, led by Johan Lagae, who
provided a walking tour and in turn a peculiar guide to the city. Picha has proven
over and over again the strong and long-term commitment to learning as a
process in constructing audience and capacity, and as a strategy for developing the
local artistic and cultural scene. In addition, many of its initiatives blur the bounda-
ries between artistic practice and everyday experience. The workshops comple-
mented an international group exhibition, spread through various venues in the
city, using public spaces and venues as impromptu display galleries or cinemas. We
held a two-day conference in collaboration with Gasworks and Triangle Arts
Network, co-produced a film by Norwegian artist Bodil Furu, collaborated with
Escola Maumaus in Lisbon for Angela Ferreira’s public performance and organised
a multidisciplinary gathering in which professionals and the public would debate
on formulas of participatory art and social practices.

If the two cases above were used to respond to the question ‘For whom are
biennials organised?’, the answer would clearly be ‘The public’. You could say that
precariousness was, in some instances, the organising principle, that creativity and
imagination were necessary tools for knowledge and change. Art was a social act,
made with and for its audience. They were experiences that proposed an exercise
in participation, abolishing narratives of author versus spectator, organisers versus
participants, turning all of us, curators, organisers, members of the press, local
authorities and audiences alike, undeniably, to once again use Glissant’s words,
into the protagonists of a ‘poetics of relation’, a one-sole-social composition.

This text was first published in Making Biennals in Contemporary Times. 2015.
Biennial Foundation. Eds. (Galit Eilat, Nuria Enguita Mayo, Charles Esche,
Pablo Lafuente, Luiza Proença, Oren Sagiv, and Benjamin Seroussi). Publishers
Biennial Foundation, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, ICCo – Instituto de Cultura
Contemporânea.
Available: issuu.com/iccoart/docs/wbf_book_r5_issuu

46 Issue 32 / October 2016

For Whom Are Biennials Organised? In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Elvira Dyangani Ose (b. 1974, Spain/Equatorial Guinea) is Lecturer in Visual

Cultures at Goldsmiths, independent curator, and member of the Thought Council at the
Fondazione Prada, where she has curated two of its current exhibitions, Theaster Gates’s
True Value and Nástio Mosquito’s T.T.T. Template Temples of Tenacity. She was curator of
the eighth edition of the Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA
2015) and Curator International Art at Tate Modern (2011–2014). At Tate, she took a
leading role in developing Tate’s holdings of art from Africa and its Diaspora and worked
closely with the Africa Acquisitions Committee. She is responsible for Across the Board
(2012–2014), a two-year interdisciplinary project that took place in London, Accra, Douala
and Lagos. She recently co-curated Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist (2013).
Prior to Tate, she was curator at the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (2004–
2006) and at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (2006–2008), where she
organised several exhibitions, including works by, among others, General Idea, Viennese
Actionism, Alfredo Jaar, Lara Almárcegui, Ábalos & Herreros, and Ricardo Basbaum. At the
CAAM, she curated the seminal exhibition Olvida Quien Soy/ Erase Me From Who I Am
 (2006), presenting works by, among others, Nicholas Hlobo, Tracey Rose, Moshekwa
Langa, Zanele Muholi, and Mikhael Sutbozky.
She has curated the retrospective exhibition Carrie Mae Weems: Social Studies
(2010) and the interdisciplinary project Attempt to Exhaust an African Place (2007–
2008). She was also curator of Arte Invisible (2009–2010), guest curator of the triennial
SUD-Salon Urbain de Douala (2010), and the Artistic Director of the third edition of
the Rencontres Picha. Lubumbashi Biennial (2013). Dyangani Ose has published and
lectured on modern and contemporary African art and has contributed to art journals such
as Nka and Atlántica. She is currently completing a PhD and holds an MA in History of Art
and Visual Studies from Cornell University, New York; an MAS in Theory and History of
Architecture from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona; and a BA in Art History
from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

47 Issue 32 / October 2016

Public Art and Urban Change in Douala In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Public Art and Urban

Change in Douala
Iolanda Pensa
While the doual’art association works on the third edition of SUD, the
public art event which aims to transform the capital of Cameroon, an itinerant
exhibition exports the event to Europe, passing through Rotterdam, Nantes,
Ghent and Milan.

The SUD-Salon Urbain de Douala does what many critics claim the leading
biennials and triennials fail to do — make an impact. The world may well find it
hard to believe that Africa can produce anything hugely innovative, contemporary
and truly international but SUD has transformed Douala.
I don’t really know where to start but we can play this like a Gamebook. If
you know what a biennial is, go to 2. If you know what a biennial is and you also
know where Douala is, go directly to 3. If you know what a biennial is but did not
think there were any in Africa, you’d better start from 1.

1. The Venice Biennale was founded in 1895 and with it a type of art
exhibition that, by adopting the simple term biennale, immediately declared its
intention to be imposing and enduring. Actually, it matters not if an event is
annual, biennial, triennial, quadrennial, quinquennial or a one-off, the simple
reference in the title to a cyclical nature makes people think it is a biennial.
The place-name in the title is another distinctive feature as, one way or
another, it is a declaration of a wish to promote tourism. In 1993, Thomas McEvilly
(Thomas McEvilley, “Arrivederci Venice: The Third World Biennials” in Artforum
International, 01/11/1993) observed an epidemic of major exhibitions in what he
calls the Third World. His text does not consider the 1966 Festival Mondial des Arts
Nègres as a biennial despite its desire for four-year recurrence; nor does it analyse
the numerous film events; it is based on a selection of partial sources and does not
indicate continuity between events launched in the 1970s and those of the 1980s.

48 Issue 32 / October 2016

Public Art and Urban Change in Douala In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

However, the article is extremely important because it stirred up a whole

host of discussions on biennials and, most importantly, gave rise to a recurrent
style of analysis, that examines exhibition catalogues on a basis of Western style
versus non-Western style, Modernism versus Post-Modernism and centre versus
periphery. I do not know how many of you have had the privilege of leafing
through the catalogues of the biennale of Dakar, Cairo, or indeed the itinerant
Bantu one, but we must admit the painstaking care with which Thomas McEvilly
conducted his investigation is truly praiseworthy, analysing grainy pictures and
turning the pages of often quite makeshift publications in pursuit of comparative
data.

The fact remains that an exhibition catalogue is not the exhibition and you
lose sight of much of the substance when observing an event from a distance. It
does not fully convey the Egyptian government’s role in the organisation of the
Cairo Biennale; you miss the buzz that accompanied the rapid birth and death of
the Johannesburg Biennale; and you cannot drink toasts in the mild Senegalese
spring along with the large number of artists, curators and critics who come from
all over the world to the Biennale de Dakar.
Looking at a map of the world with every biennial marked with a dot, it is
hard to make out the links and people, and it is difficult to realise that the Biennale
de Dakar has had such an impact on the African art scene, much more than that of
Venice.

49 Issue 32 / October 2016

Public Art and Urban Change in Douala In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

2. Douala is where the SUD-Salon de Douala has been held every three years
since 2007. I hope its citizens will forgive me but, quite frankly, Douala is one awful
place. An inhospitable city, it is violent and ugly without having the notoriety of
Lagos or Luanda’s oil. It is one of the greatest Central African ports, the financial
capital of Cameroon and a place of passage where people always seem about to
leave, such is the rush to get away. So harsh is this context that it is extreme and
symbolic. Producing works of art in Douala’s public space involves a striking degree
of complexity which includes — to give you an idea — the management of public
and private land ownership, working with local authorities and police, the import-
ing and expense of equipment, sourcing materials, training skilled staff, fundrais-
ing, security and the problematical issue of photographing public artworks in a
place that really is not photogenic. This is an impossible environment to conjure up
when strolling through the streets of Münster, to remain on message. The SUD
triennial was created with the aim of bolstering the work started by doual’art in
1991 and to transform Douala. No local branding but real and pure transforma-
tion. And they are succeeding! In Douala!

Doual’art has produced artworks in the public space by working with the
city administration, stimulating public debate, involving communities, launching a
triennial and mobilising artists and experts the world over. If this had been started
a few years ago, you would understand and admire their enthusiasm but it all
commenced more than 20 years ago. Their dedication is the most striking factor

50 Issue 32 / October 2016

Public Art and Urban Change in Douala In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

as just getting through the day in the heat and humidity of Douala makes you feel
like a hero.

3. The critic and curator Gerardo Mosquera has explained it clearly in

several essays: working in an area and making an impact in the medium-long term
is what biennials find hard to do but what they ought to pursue, to trigger new
processes and fully foster cultural production. Many events attempt this with
activities in squares, schools and with open archives. The SUD case is very different.
doual’art started planning its triennial in 2005, building on long experience already
gained in Douala.

It was, indeed, in 2005 that Marilyn Douala Bell and Didier Schaub created
the Ars&Urbis think tank to gather a group of people that would promote the
event and guarantee the required international scope, visibility and continuity. The
idea is that doual’art should continue to do what it does best: support artists and
produce artworks in the public space. The efforts are not all spent during the event
but converge on it; SUD is when what has been produced is presented to the world
and the city is celebrated. The first triennial held in 2007 featured permanent and
transient interventions; the second time around, in 2010, they refined the selection
of the works; and ever larger interventions are planned for 2013. doual’art’s
expertise is growing, SUD is growing and the desire to involve the city as a whole is
growing.

51 Issue 32 / October 2016

Public Art and Urban Change in Douala In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Imagine a visitor map of Paris with the Eiffel Tower, Pantheon, Louvre,
Champs-Élysées inserted as 3D city icons. Adopting a similar technique, doual’art is
working on a 1:1 map of Douala. Research has reconstructed the history of 30
buildings dating from colonial times and 18 have been given signs by the designer
Sandrine Dole. doual’art commissioned and produced La Nouvelle Liberté, by
Joseph-Francis Sumégné, considered a monument to the city and observed by
several scholars as a case study on its emblematic impact. It has produced 50 works
(approximately half transient and half permanent) in a dozen districts. One of the
most poetic installations is a screen on the Wouri River by Salifou Lindou, who
used simple metal and plastic to create squares where the fishermen wash on their
way back from work. The itinerant SUD-Salon Urbain de Douala exhibition
provides an opportunity to meet Douala and experience a visionary and innovative
event that is both instructive and surprising. The exhibition’s first stop is Rotter-
dam, for the Architecture Biennale, followed by Dakar for the Biennale de Dakar,
Nantes, Ghent and Milan.

Captions
1 Pascale Marthine Tayou, La Colonne Pascale, New Bell, Douala, 2010. Public
art commissioned and produced by doual'art within SUD 2010. Photo by Roberto
Paci Dalò, Douala, 2010. Above: Salifou Lindou, Face à l'Eau, Bonamouti-Deïdo,
Douala, 2010. Public art commissioned and produced by doual'art within SUD
2010. Photo by Roberto Paci Dalò, Douala, 2010
2 Lucas Grandin, Le jardin sonore, BonamoutiDeïdo, Douala, 2010. Public art
commissioned and produced by doual'art within SUD 2010. Photo by Roberto Paci
Dalò, Douala, 2010
3 Koko Komégné, Njé Mo yé, Nkololoun, Douala, 2007. Public art commis-
sioned and produced by doual'art within SUD 2007. Photo Roberto Paci Dalò,
Douala, 2010
4 Philip Aguirre, Source, Ndogpassi III, Douala, 2010. Public art commissioned
and produced by doual'art within SUD 2010. Presentation of the project. Photo
Roberto Paci Dalò, Douala, 2010
5 TiesTen Bosch, Diving in deep, Ndogpassi III, 2010. Public art commissioned
and produced by doual'art within SUD 2010. Photo Roberto Paci Dalò, Douala,
2010
6 Arches de la mémoire, Cheminée de Bonakouamouang, Douala, 2006. Design
Sandrine Dole; research and texts Valère Epée, Lionel Manga et Blaise Ndjehoya.
Urban design commissioned and produced by doual'art. Photo by Roberto Paci
Dalò, Douala, 2010

52 Issue 32 / October 2016

Public Art and Urban Change in Douala In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

7 TiesTen Bosch, Diving in deep, Ndogpassi III, 2010. Public art commissioned
and produced by doual'art within SUD 2010. Photo Roberto Paci Dalò, Douala,
2010

Iolanda Pensa (b. 1975) is a researcher and art critic. She holds a university degree
in medieval art history from the Catholic University of Milan (Literature and Philosophy,
Modern Literature, 2003), a Ph.D. in social anthropology and ethnology and in territorial
government and planning at the EHESS (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales) in
Paris, in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano Department of Architecture and Urban
Planning (2011). Her professional experience includes: researcher for “Africa e Mediterra-
neo” (2002-2006); founder and board member of iStrike Foundation in Rotterdam
(2005-2008); professor of art economy at NABA Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti di Milano
(2007-2011); correspondent for Africa for Domus magazine (2011-2012); scientific
director at lettera27 Foundation in Milan (2007-2012) for the projects “WikiAfrica:
Increasing the Quality and Quantity of African Content on Wikipedia” and “Share
YourKnowledge: Creative Commons and Wikipedia for Cultural Institutions”. She has also
been a researcher at the Laboratory of Visual Culture/Department for Environment
Constructions and Design/SUPSI University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern
Switzerland (2013-), artistic director of Associazione Amici del Museo delle Grigne Onlus
(2007–), coordinator of Ecomuseo delle Grigne (2010-), and leader at Wikimania Esino
Lario 2016. Her research interests include systems of knowledge production and distributions
in Africa; assessment of cultural institutions, GLAMs, and public art; the impact of
international grant-makers on culture in Africa; Wikipedia; and the Dakar Biennale of
Contemporary African Art.

53 Issue 32 / October 2016

INTERVIEWS
ON
BIENNIALS

54 Issue 32 / October 2016

Smooth Nzewi In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Smooth Nzewi
interviewed by Nkule Mabaso
Nkule Mabaso: Its fundamental objectives are tingent history of the World Wars, the Greek origins
to support and encourage artistic creativity, produc- of Western civilization tied to the Frankfurt School,
tion, protection, distribution, training, and education and Germany’s current position in Europe, on the
in Africa and to promote African artists in Africa and other hand. These are all food for thought. Our neo-
on the international level, through state and private liberal present does not always mesh with myth or
actions. In this way, the Dakar Biennale, DAK’ART, fiction. One is mindful of idealism-driven positions
aspires to be an instrument that will integrate Africa that end up serving a lucky few. I am also thinking,
through a common cultural market, a platform to more specifically, about other forms of collective
allow African artists access to the international art agendas on the continent such as the African Union,
market. These are the historic aspirations of the bien- and the various economically driven sub-regional
nale—how relevant are they in the current climate of blocs such as ECOWAS, SADC, etc., or even NEPAD.
production and how can they be reframed to be more They are all window dressing, platforms that are yet
relevant? to mean anything. They are yet to reflect or achieve
the reasons they were established in the first place.
Smooth Nzewi: These are genuine ambitions With these in mind, I still think that Dak’Art
critical to creating a system and building its struc- has tried to fulfil some of its set objectives, albeit in a
ture. Yet to aspire is one thing, and to actualize is rudimentary way. It remains a viable platform that
another. To an extent, the Dak’Art Biennale has acted showcases African artists and introduces them to the
as a sort of fulcrum on the continent, but it contends international art world system. One can also think of
with a slew of mitigating factors. Because of its lon- Dak’Art’s role on the continent as being that of creat-
gevity as the oldest biennale in Africa, it commands ing or stabilizing an emerging African art world;
some credibility despite largely failing to accomplish artists, galleries, auction houses, curators, etc. For
some of these noble causes. From an economic example, under the auspices of Dak’Art 2014, there
standpoint, it is a platform that promotes the busi- was a major conference on Black Consciousness,
ness of culture. It also claims as a moral imperative organized by art historian Salah Hassan through
the necessity to pursue this continental agenda. I Cornell University’s Institute of Comparative Moder-
want to pick up on the idea of a common cultural nities. The curator Bisi Silva brought her Asiko plat-
market, though laudable it can be viewed largely as form, the most important avenue for training the
utopic. When the idea was pushed forward at the next generation of curators and art practitioners in
Rencontres et Échanges at Dak’Art 1992 and elabo- Africa, to Dakar, to coincide with the biennale. These
rated further in 1996, it took into account sweeping among other events occurred during Dak’Art 2014
globalization, the position of modern and contempo- and point more clearly to a more diffused system that
rary African art at the bottom of the value system of the biennale can engender, but more importantly,
the international art world, and more importantly how a common agenda can still be achieved in other
historical injustices such as the trans-Atlantic slave forms and through other means.
trade, racism, and colonialism, upon which global
capital was built and which continues to exploit the NM: Your review of the ninth edition of
African commonweal. In spite of the obvious merits Dak’Art was positive, if not optimistic. In it you
of the Dak’Art position and my convictions, I think it touched on the subject of “the recurring problem of
is also necessary to rigorously evaluate the idea of a paucity of funding almost jeopardized the staging of
common cultural market shorn of sentiments and the biennale and some scaling back of programming”.
myths in order to arrive at what is possible and that In your position within the curatorial team, what was
which reflects the reality on ground. Hazy ideals your strategy in dealing with this “recurring problem”
such as the European Union easily come to mind, no and how was this transcended?
less because of its moral bankruptcy and a certain
hierarchy of inclusion. I am thinking about Greece’s SN: I am not sure that I suggested that the
current economic debacle on the one hand; the con- situation was optimistic in my review. The ninth

55 Issue 32 / October 2016

Smooth Nzewi In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

edition was the most precarious in the biennale’s NM: Taking your curation as a moment for crit-
history. It was competing for attention with the vari- ical reflection on the biennale’s impact on contempo-
ous legacy projects of then president of Senegal, rary art in Africa over the last twenty years, what are
Monsieur Abdoulaye Wade. It was also the moment your hopes for the biennale for the next twenty
the European Union, its biggest sponsor after the years?
Senegalese government, decided to terminate its
partnership with the biennale. That the Dak’Art SN: I would say that Dak’Art 2014 was an
administration under the leadership of former Secre- opportunity for us to re-insert the biennale into the
tary General Monsieur Ousseynou Wade was able to art world’s consciousness. I had use the word “reposi-
make it happen in the face of government’s lack of tion” in the past to describe what we set out to do. I
interest or commitment was admirable. Maybe that am not sure that we ended up doing that not because
was the tint of optimism you read into my review. we did not want to, but because the opportunity to
The ninth Dak’Art was the most difficult in the do so was largely distorted by the biennale’s adminis-
annals of the biennale. tration. Yet at the back of our minds, we felt that it
Like most biennales, Dak’Art suffers from lack was an opportunity to explore the role a biennale can
of adequate funding. The government of Senegal is play in addressing our common humanism. We were
the major sponsor, and there are all sorts of red tape thinking about the biennale’s history and raison
and official bureaucracy, as you can imagine. The d’être. It was primarily created to fill a void: the
biggest challenge, however, for the biennale is its lack absence of a legitimate voice for contemporary artis-
of capacity as an institution and the fact that a lot of tic production by African and diaspora artists. The
people are interested in what Dak’Art can do for year it was founded, 1989, holds symbolic historic
them and not how it can be supported and strength- value. It was the moment the international art world
ened to play its role effectively. We encountered began to globalize. The Magiciens de la terre exhibi-
similar difficulties in putting together the eleventh tion, in spite of its shortcomings, especially operating
iteration. It was a tough situation to work with the with a different set of values for Western and non-
Biennale’s administration that did not fully grasp the Western artists, is generally considered as the obvi-
importance of the biennale to Senegal and Africa. ous catalyst. It was one of the few exhibitions that
attempted to give prominence to non-Western artists
NM: What were some of your reservations in a period when they hovered largely in the mar-
going into the curation of Dak’Art 2014? gins. Even more significant, for the purpose of this
conversation, is the anthological The Other Story
SN: Having attended several previous itera- exhibition curated by the respected artist and social
tions of the biennale, I was fully aware of its endur- entrepreneur Rasheed Araeen, which focused on
ing challenges. I was mostly worried about the bien- modernism from a black British perspective. These
nale administration, if it understood the enormity of events can be viewed as isolated, having no direct
its responsibility. With the FESMAN 2010 fiasco in bearing on the Senegalese government’s decision to
mind, I was very concerned about the treatment of create Dak’Art. Yet considered together, they were all
artists and their works. Dak’Art has not always been speaking a similar language of de-centring, of dis-
very effective in handling logistical issues despite its mantling the Eurocentric vision of the art world at
existence for more than twenty-five years. At each that point in time. In Senegal, the government’s
edition, it always appeared as if it was the first outing rhetoric was that it was the successor of the First
of the biennale, as if there was no institutional mem- World Festival of Negro Arts of 1966, which was part
ory about previous iterations. As curators of Dak’Art of the first wave of international festivals that cele-
2014, my colleagues and I were aware of some if not brated global black modernism in the independence
all of these issues. But we were prepared to cut the decades of the 1960s and 1970s. We took all these
new administration some slack. As it turned out, the histories into consideration as we conceptualized the
lack of experience became progressively worse over eleventh iteration of the biennale.
the course of the biennale. What should have been a
very beautiful experience for everyone involved NM: Could you explain in what ways and why
became a difficult one. Still, Dak’Art is a festival one Dakar is different from Venice, São Paolo, and other
holds very dear to one’s heart because of its history, international biennials?
longevity, and the selflessness of the government and
people of Senegal. It is their gift to Africa. SN: Every biennial has its individual identity,
agenda, and frames of reference. At the beginning,

56 Issue 32 / October 2016

Smooth Nzewi In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Dak’Art espoused an emancipatory rhetoric that NM: The structural, organisational flaws and
derived from percolating postcolonial discourses or, the inability of the Biennale to provide a reliable
at least, it was read in that light. It has focused great organisation have escalated to the point where artists
attention on African and African diaspora artists as refrain from participating in it. How much truth
the core of its institutional identity. It is an example would you say lies in these statements, and with your
of a geographically, and ethnically, if you like, cir- team of curators how did you engage these percep-
cumscribed venue, that illustrates what Monika tions?
Szewczyk describes as a critical regionalism that
some biennales evince to ward off global pressure. I SN: Quite to the contrary. In spite of its many
am more inclined to say that Dak’Art deploys pan- challenges, it is still viewed by many as the most
Africanism (advanced loosely in some of its itera- credible platform for contemporary art in Africa. In
tions), which may be deemed parochial as an ideo- fact, most African artists want to show there because
logical, organizational, governing strategy, to secure it provides a ready path to the international main-
a particular institutional identity that distinguishes it stream. We did not deal with the perceptions you
from other art biennales. Biennales such as Venice mentioned. Instead, we had a deluge of applications
and São Paulo are much bigger global events than that included serial applicants and those who have
Dak’Art and are also the two oldest art biennales in participated in several editions of the Biennale.
the world. Both biennales, for the major part of their Without mentioning names, some of the applicants
history, reflected a dominant Eurocentric vision of are those who you would consider to be big names in
art modernity. I think where Dak’Art differs from the the international scene.
two, beyond its focused interest in artists of African
descent, is its lack of financial means and prestige NM: The Dakar Biennale in its past episodes
that both institutions command. Beyond that, bien- has claimed the African continent as its focus. To
nales these days are a mirror of each other. what extent has its impact been felt, and what is the
level of awareness of the Biennale within the conti-
NM: While its importance is stressed, Dak’Art nent?
tends to be evaluated only on its failings and not its
own benchmarks, i.e. the idea that Dak’Art—as the SN: Well, you and I are very cognizant of this
only biennale dedicated to African art—has failed to fact, and that is why we are having this conversation.
give artists from Africa a chance to occupy a space A significant number of artists in and out of Africa,
and position in the international art scene, and it is in addition to most local art scenes on the continent,
reproached for following the trends and structures of know about the importance of Dak’Art. The general
the global art community that contribute to an ever public might not be very aware of it. This is usually
flawed exhibition, because in trying to emulate some- the case given that high art is not exactly popular
thing else it fails to engage its own unique context. culture. Having said that, the scenario you have
painted is not limited to Dak’Art or Africa. We can
SN: There is always the tendency to expect the look intently at other biennales such as Liverpool,
worst from Africa. Though Dak’Art has not always Sharjah, Gwangju, or Moscow, for example. Beyond
helped its case, it is not critiqued for following inter- the art community (local and international), argua-
national trends, whatever that might mean. Obvi- bly only a small fraction of the general public in
ously one recognizes the critical insights posited by those contexts mark their calendars in anticipation of
Rasheed Araeen and Anna Stielau in their respective such events before they happen. Art exhibitions are
reviews of the Biennale in Third Text in 2002 and in not music festivals. Bigger biennales such as the
The Postcolonialist in 2014. Both reviews were objec- Venice or Documenta have become part of popular
tive, well-intentioned, and intellectually relevant. But culture and so would attract greater visibility and
the saying that when one dines with the Devil, it has visitors. Yet it is important to state that we received
to be with a long spoon is particularly apt in describ- more than 700 applications for Dak’Art 2014 from all
ing what the biennale is up against. Swim or sink, it over the continent and the diaspora. That should give
has to chart its own alternative path while hoping to you a sense of the Dak’Art Biennale’s impact or repu-
remain a credible platform in the international main- tation. And, of course, a lot more applications sent
stream. I believe that is the least we can expect of it. via snail mail never made it to Dakar.
My own criticism of the Biennale is that it eschews
best practices in its organisation. NM: The Biennales generally combined their
art exhibits with conferences that dealt with issues of

57 Issue 32 / October 2016

Smooth Nzewi In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

contemporary relevance. What were the main areas NM: What is the continuing justification for
of discussion in your program and why? the Biennale? How does the Biennale as it is presently
hope to remain relevant in contemporary issues in
SN: The Rencontres et Échanges, (Dak’Art’s both African and global culture?
official conference meetings) was quite dense in 2014,
more than was the case in the past. Its cocktail of SN: Dak’Art, in spite of all its shortcomings,
panels explored topics including “The artist and the remains the preeminent platform for African artists.
gallery manager”, “Contemporary art institutions: It has either helped to either launch or solidify their
fairs, auction houses, museums, biennales”, “Art careers. It is viewed in that way in the international
dealers, buyers, collectors, sponsors”, and “Journals art world system. It attracts the greatest number of
and magazines of contemporary art”, to mention a few. visitors for any art event in Africa. But like I have
stated several times in this conversation and else-
NM: For the 2006 edition, Dak’Art introduced where, it must address perennial issues.
what it described as a ‘college of curators’ to deter-
mine the selection and to set the conditions for a NM: How is this Biennale different from previ-
‘balanced representation’ of the various areas of the ous ones? What issues did you hope to raise, and
continent, and the selection process was modified what was the depth and level of engagement with
such that, in addition to the traditional approach of these issues?
inviting artists to submit portfolios, individual cura-
tors could propose artists for consideration. In 2014, SN: In our first press interview with Contem-
how was the Biennale and its curation structured? porary&, we stated quite clearly that we wanted to
What are the criteria for the selection of participating reposition the Biennale, re-energize it, and make it
artists/curators? How much did/were you able to once again a force to reckon with. We wanted to
deviate from the much criticised “open call” process? think more critically about the intersection of poli-
tics and aesthetics in the context of the Biennale
SN: I have a contrary opinion regarding what from the perspectives of Jacques Rancière and
you have described as “the much criticised open call Michael Hardt. We were drawn to the idea of the
process.” It is indeed reflective of how people would common as a binding force of humanism, not in the
give a dog a bad name to hang it. As I already classical sense of commons as collectively held
pointed out, it is part of the narrative that Africa is resources, but in reference to the Ubuntu philosophy.
set up to fail. The open call process is one of those As such, our quest was for a deeper understanding of
inventions in the context of art biennials that help to the human common at a time in history where the
distinguish Dak’Art from a lot of biennials. It gives cult of the individual and the monster of neoliberal
agency to artists and democratizes the process of capitalism are at ravaging heights, and what art
selection if it is properly done. It has allowed the might hold as an outlet. We were thinking about
Biennale to be able to discover young talented artists these things and how they can capture Edouard
who otherwise might have been marginalised, as Glissant’s Tout-monde. The works we assembled
they are an unknown quantity. It is also a process provided a fascinating collage to work through these
that allows the Biennale to manage its meagre ideas.
resources. It does not have the resources of the Ven-
ice Biennales or Documentas of this world. The NM: The Dakar Biennale is one of the few
alternative would be that curators would have to visit biennials that is primarily government-sponsored.
most African countries and the diaspora to find How does the Biennale deal with the problem of
artists. I think the major down side of the open call navigating between the desires of the state and its
process is that the curators may not properly assess own critical independence?
the quality of artworks. Some artists are very astute at
putting together dazzling portfolios, others are not. SN: I am well acquainted with Dak’Art and
There have been situations in the past when the Senegal and would say that the state does not shape
actual works fell short of the glory of the photo- the outcome of the Biennale’s exhibitions and other
graphs sent as part of the submitted portfolio. activities. There is an Orientation Committee, once
Dak’Art’s modus operandi combines the open call called the Scientific Committee in a typical European
with curators’ invitation of some of the participating fashion, populated by people who are involved in the
artists. That was the case during Dak’Art 2014. My Senegalese art world who work closely with the
colleagues and I felt it was a balanced approach. Biennale’s administration to shape every iteration of

58 Issue 32 / October 2016

Smooth Nzewi In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

the Biennale. But bear this in mind: no institution live with every day in Senegal? Our curatorial posi-
anywhere in the world is independent in the true tion took the country of Léopold Senghor and the
sense of the word. The so-called independent art city of Dakar as our points of departure.
initiatives or spaces in Africa have to conform to the
funding regulations of their sponsors, and that is NM: How does the Biennale reflect on the
neoliberalism for you. The earlier we begin to lose achievements of African artists or itself as a platform?
such a delusion, the better for all of us. To be more Your selection based on the open call and its positives
precise, in the case of Dak’Art, after each edition, and negatives, merely collecting some artist’s works
there is both internal and external assessment. The and putting them together and then calling it a bien-
verdict that is returned nearly all the time is that the nial are fast becoming a farce.
Biennale must wean itself off the government, as if
when it is done all of the Biennale’s problems will be SN: One can say that Dak’Art is not the only
gone. I have maintained that Dak’Art’s problem is a guilty one of what you refer to as a farce. A lot of
lack of selfless and knowledgeable people interested what we see in biennials these days are heavy on
in developing the much needed organisational capac- verbiage, trendy on issues, and thin on substance.
ity. If Dak’Art is to become a foundation, as most Biennials tend to mirror each other in terms of intent
critics are arguing for, it might prove inimical in the and in recycling same artists, and occasionally, same
long term. There are a lot of factors to consider, works. And as Charlotte Bydler reminds us, they
namely the absence of a real structure, the climate of have increasingly become hubs for networking where
economic uncertainty, among others. Do not get me social capital and not necessarily art is emphasized.
wrong, I am not saying the government’s involve- At Dak’Art 2014, we wanted to show artists who have
ment is the best-case scenario. One is truly worried never been in the Biennale before. I think our theme
that if it decides to be hands off, it would mark the was thoughtful and was the basis of our artists’ selec-
beginning of the end of Dak’Art. For one thing, how tion.
can the Biennale sustain itself beyond running to
Europe for hand-outs? Are there any persons or NM: Can Africa through the Biennale assert its
corporate organisations in Africa that are ready to independence or develop its own structures and
put their money where their mouth is? I was in vision within this context without critically confront-
South Africa at the time of the eKAPA Sessions, and ing the dominant structures of art around the world
we know how challenging it was organising the Cape today?
Biennale that never was, in spite of the fact that
South Africa has the deepest economy in Africa and SN: To some degree, that is what Dak’Art is
a better art world structure. about, though I think you are giving it far too much
responsibility that it can bear with little or no credit.
NM: In terms of the Biennale and the address- As I already pointed out, it is always a “Catch-22”
ing of the cities’ publics, not very much seems to have situation for Dak’Art in terms of how it locates itself
been written that critically reflects on the last within the matrix of the art world system. A lot of
Dak’Art, and is this either a positive sign or a dejected pragmatism is required to navigate the fraught ter-
disinterest in rehashing the same criticisms that have rain of a West-controlled international art world.
plagues the Biennale traditionally?
NM: Is it enough to say that it is a biennial
SN: There is a review of the last Dak’Art titled representing Africa, or that it is now the only biennial
“Trouble in the Village” by writer Moses Serubiri, representing Africa, of visual arts showing the works
published in Africaisacountry, the online platform. of African artists living both Africa and abroad?
Serubiri was very critical of what he felt was our
academic approach to the Biennale, and more par- SN: It is not the only biennial representing
ticularly our theme of “Producing the Common”. He Africa and has never aspired to be so. When it was
felt that it was high-sounding, especially with the created there was no comparable platform on the
citations of Glissant, Rancière, etc., and disenfran- continent. It has also evolved over the years and
chised the local public who may not be familiar with varied its exhibitions from one edition to the other.
such cultural figures. Fair enough, I would say. Yet is However, its core ideology of serving as a platform
it a fair criticism to imply that the Dakar public, one on the continent remains unchanged.
of the most sophisticated on the continent, is not
familiar with such philosophical thought that they

59 Issue 32 / October 2016

Smooth Nzewi In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

NM: Previously there have been many prob- Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi is an artist, art
lems—of a material, organisational, artistic, and ideo- historian, and curator of African art at the Hood Museum
logical nature—to which it seems little attention has of Art, Dartmouth College. He holds a B.A. in Fine and
been paid, and which consequently have prevented Applied Arts from the University of Nigeria Nsukka,
the Biennale from fulfilling its historical objectives. Nigeria; a postgraduate diploma in Museum and Heritage
The call for critical evaluation based on the platform’s Studies from the University of Western Cape, South Africa;
crisis of purpose were called for as early as the year and a Ph.D. in Art History from Emory University. He
2000 by Olu Oguibe and others. How healthy is the co-curated the eleventh Dak’Art Biennale in 2014.
state of the biennial?

SN: As I have already pointed out, some of the

issues are perennial. Others have been addressed to
some degree. Dak’Art remains a work in progress.

NM: What is our responsibility as Africa-based

practitioners to the Biennale and its possible futures?

SN: My hope is that Dak’Art will grow from

strength to strength, as it is an important fulcrum for
artistic contemporaneity on the continent. Every
African artist wants to show at the Biennale. How-
ever, we must learn to do things the right way. We
must shake of that mentality that, since it is Africa,
people must be more tolerant of inadequacies and
that there is a different set of rules for doing things in
Africa. We should aspire to provide an elevated
framework, context, and platform for the practice of
contemporary art and its discourse. Our responsibil-
ity, therefore, is to hold the organizers of Dak’Art
accountable and alive to their responsibilities.

Captions
1 Co-curators of Dak'Art 2014 – Abdelkader
Damani, Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi.
2 Elise Atangana Faten Rouissi, Le fantôme
de la liberté (Malla Ghassra) (Ghost of Freedom),
installation with 17 WC in ceramic, 700 x 300 x 50cm,
2012,. Dak'Art 2014. courtesy of the artist and
Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi.
3 Installing Dak'Art 2014's international
exhibition, Village de la Biennale, April–May 2014.
Artists Radliffe Bailey and Tam Joseph in fornt of
Bailey's Storm at Sea.
4 Kamel Yahiaoui, Le Poids des Origines, mixed
media, 115 x 69 x 75,5 cm, 2013. Dak'Art 2014.
Courtesy of the artist. Photo credit - Ugochukwu-
Smooth C. Nzewi.
5 Locating the venue of Dak'Art 2014, January
2014.
6 Mehdi-Georges Lahlou, 72 (virgins) on the sun,
sculpture and installation, mixed media, variable
dimensions, Dak'Art 2014. courtesy of the artist and
Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi.

60 Issue 32 / October 2016

Smooth Nzewi In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

1 2

3 4

5 6

61 Issue 32 / October 2016

Daudi Karungi In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Daudi Karungi
Director Kampala Art Biennale
interviewed by Nkule Mabaso
Kampala Art Biennale 2016 will be held from 3rd NM: The ambition with the biennial format is
September to 2nd October 2016 in Kampala. The Artistic always to be comprehensive and representative—has
Director is Ms. Elise Atangana. this been the approach for the curatorial direction of
The theme is “Seven Hills”, in reference to the seven the biennale project in Kampala?
hills that circle Kampala city. It will be an experimental
territory for local and international artists to explore new DK: The Biennale director’s role is to appoint
forms and ideas. an artistic director, who proposes his or her own
Related to mobility studies, the Biennale aims to curatorial program. Once we have a curator, he or
question, with an aesthetic and intellectual approach, the she proposes how comprehensive and representative
transformation of movements in public space, physically or they plan to be. Since we are in our infancy, we can-
virtual (‘public domain’ and technology related) and how it not afford to be very comprehensive because of
affects the daily life of the population in Kampala and the budgets.
East African sub-region perspectives.
NM: Biennale projects suffer a kind of crisis in
conceptualisation in that they do not present any new
Nkule Mabaso: What possibility does the premise or possibility but reassert what is already
position/positioning of this biennale have in defining there and can be seen to gloss over ‘real’ and ‘local’
and/or redefining geographical and cultural regions issues in their reproduction of internationality at the
within the continent? expense of the immediate context. How do you
respond to this statement in relation to the biennale
Daudi Karungi: Art from Africa on the inter- in Kampala and your role in the conceptualisation
national stage has always been dominated by West process?
and South African artists. Names like El Anatsui,
William Kentridge, etc. Also platforms like the Dakar DK: I guess all this depends on the choice of
art biennale and Johannesburg art fair have always artistic director. When choosing one, we look at
been the spotlights on the continent as far as con- someone with a proposal that will inspire the
temporary art is concerned. Kampala Biennale seeks selected artists to create works that communicate the
to create a continental balance so that something immediate. The biennale seeks to be different, so we
major also happens in East Africa. believe that artists have to be honest and original
with how they approach the theme in order to make
NM: Does it produce a counter discourse? the desired impact on the visiting audience.
Geographical position alone of course cannot do this,
so what is the greater potential in another Africa- NM: What does it mean to produce a biennale
based biennial in contributing to the de-colonialisa- in Kampala: culturally, economically, and politically?
tion discourse?
DK: Contemporary art as it is internationally
DK: Kampala Biennale focuses a lot on artists know is alien to Kampala and its people. We set out
who have not previously been featured in major to position the biennale in Kampala in order to edu-
international art events. The Biennale aims to break cate and expose this culture of art to the people in
the sameness of artists you find at every major art Kampala. Increased knowledge about contemporary
event. This is done by creating a careful mix of inter- art will lead to more creative artists, local collectors,
national and emerging and local contemporary art- and critics.
ists.
NM: Biennials and other large-scale art events
cannot be separated from the mechanics of capital;

62 Issue 32 / October 2016

Daudi Karungi In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

what are the implications and effects of the biennial

in the context of Kampala? Is the model sustainable
for the context?

DK: Finance continues to be a major issue, of

course. We are aware of this and we decided earlier
on to build partnerships with sponsors, all our part-
ners own the Biennale and we steadily grow with
them. I believe this is sustainable in the long run.

Daudi Karungi
Born 1979, Kampala Uganda
Lives and works in Kampala
Daudi is at the forefront of a new movement to
promote Ugandan art inside and outside the country. In
2007, he co-founded START, a journal of arts and culture
criticism that is the first ever publication of its kind in
Uganda. His a founding member of the Kampala Arts
Trust, a coalition of artists and art appreciators in the
country and elsewhere who are working toward the dream
of establishing a modern art museum in the country. It will
facilitate research, exchange programs and training as well
as offering a state-of-the-art exhibition space for local
works. In 2014 he started the 1st Kampala Art Biennale1
2014 and worked as the Artistic Director.
Born in Kampala, Daudi went to the Margaret
Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts at Makerere
University. Afriart Gallery, which he founded in 2002, is
now Uganda’s leading gallery. It remains devoted to
developing and promoting homegrown visual artistic talent
and in recent years has hosted readings by local fiction
writers and other events that promote the work of
Ugandans working in the creative arts. Daudi is involved in
a number of innovative cross-media collaborations, such as
a project using original art illustrations to promote reading
among secondary school students, The paint the music
project (a fusion of music and art), All color No color (a
project that is aimed at breaking racial barriers), Spear and
Shield bearers (a photography project celebrating signifi-
cant women in Uganda).
www.afriartgallery.org
www.kampalaartstrust.org
www.kampalabiennale.org

63 Issue 32 / October 2016

Daudi Karungi In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

2 3

Images courtesy of Dauadi Karungi from Kampala Art

Biennale 2014

64 Issue 32 / October 2016

Mishek Masamvu In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Mishek Masamvu
interviewed by Olga Speakes
Interview with Misheck Masamvu, participant that has plagued their existence in some quarters is
in the 2014 Yango Biennale. marked by the scepticism that comes from
The interview took place over a period of time the unknown intentions of the funders and curators,
in 2015 and 2016 via Skype video conversations and which are often viewed with suspicion.
emails.  
OS: Is the institutional structure through which
Olga Speakes: You have so far participated in your work gets exhibited significant for you? And, if
several biennials (Yango, Dak’art, Venice, São Tomé e so, in what ways? What are you looking for?
Príncipe). What, if anything, does a biennial format  
offer for you that other exhibition formats may not?  MM: An artwork, unfortunately, has to
  be presented within a certain context for it to reveal
Misheck Masamvu: It is sometimes like start- its strength. I view the institutional structure
ing a new relationship, coming in contact with a new as one of many layers within my canvas; its role is to
space, a terrain curved to develop your own artistic provide a transparent link between source and
grammar. Often, an exhibition within an institution- medium hosting the message. Today, I am not
alized space is like working within a baby crib, and a interested in spaces to simply exhibit my work; I am
biennial pays homage to the artist’s process of collab- more concerned with defining space as the source,
oration with the curatorial concept and the space. itself revealing a certain experience.
Such a setting is worth engaging with, to encapsu-  
late personal stories and concepts. It is the unlearn- OS: Your work is both personal and, at the
ing of the art-making process by deconditioning a same time, activist. You said before, that in some
platform where experiences and concepts make the cases your hope for your work is to be the voice of
heartbeat of the conversation. When an artist goes to the voiceless. Do you find that the biennial format
a biennial, we look for space for development—per- allows for a higher degree of volume in that voice?
sonal growth and development—for an opportunity, Some biennial critics might argue that it is a levelling
for a conversation. The biennial, for me though, is an and universalizing force that has the power to drown
institutional structure. It should be more about the out individual voices in the service of global dis-
process of creating work, looking for meaningful, courses about contemporary art. Could you comment
helpful, and revealing discussions about the creative on that?
process and what you are trying to do. But as an  
artist you come across categorizations and stereo- MM: I do not believe in a revolution fought
types. The invisible barriers do exist, and not only with foreign weapons. In the same vein, pseudo-
that, people come to biennials in order to look over biennials attempting to speak for the voiceless
these invisible barriers but they already have formed is like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The language of an
expectations of what they want to see on the other artist is both individual and universal, and that does
side.  not mean his or her message is for the rest of the
  world. Currently a global system exists that con-
OS: Biennials originated in the West but have trols channelling and receiving information, while 
become an accepted, if criticized, way of, supposedly, the consumer is meant to take their poison at will
providing an overview of where contemporary art is and die alone. When artists speak of death in the
at within a certain region or globally. Do you feel that presence of their oppressors (those who seek to
they have been able to transcend their Eurocentric institutionalize the artist’s career), they seek to
history and to offer a useful structure for the artists incarnate their soul above the levelling and 
anywhere to exhibit their work? universalizing force encapsulated in dosages of news
  bulletins. I believe every artist knows that; if you
MM: A biennial is an open salon, where dirty have a healthy relationship with death, then, global
laundry is often left in the open. The criticism discourses on contemporary art are just decorated
coffins on a shelf. 

65 Issue 32 / October 2016

Mishek Masamvu In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

OS: What have been your worst and your best MM: A successful biennial is a kind
experiences of exhibiting your work within a biennial of space that is open for reinvention. In my view, for
context?  a biennial to be successful it must adhere to the geo-
social and economic realities in which it oper-
MM:  Every biennial is an EXPERIENCE, ates. There must be an in-country supportive
there is no good or bad. After participating in one, all and organizational structure that is needed to keep
you just need is time to recover and continue work- such platforms in existence. One important aspect to
ing. note is to make information about the biennial acces-
  sible. Such information must include a program and
OS: The role of the curator, especially the so- public forum where interested bodies can lobby ideas
called ‘star curator’, is often debated in relation to or structural adjustments beyond the condition-
biennials. What, in your opinion, is the ideal relation- ing of the artist through “unrelated themes” and
ship between an artist and the curator of a biennial? impractical budgets. There are many pseudo art-
Could you describe experiences, if any, that came related programs running parallel to local arts prac-
close to this ideal? tices that alienate local audiences, leaving them with
  no clue as to what is going on in their backyard.
MM: ART speaks for itself. A curator must be There is a need to raise local awareness and interest
willing to engage in a conversation, the dialog in by lobbying for transparency in the making of the
creating an artwork sometimes needs more people right connections with all stakeholders involved.
than the artist and their artwork. I met someone who There must be more awareness and transpar-
showed me resolved artworks created by an ency in the location where a biennial takes place. The
untrained hand from the “Continent”. The inten- connection with grassroots programs is essential in
tion of the man showing me the image, his objective, order to come up with a biennial that makes a differ-
perhaps, was to show how an untrained painter dis- ence; otherwise, a biennial is like an alien that lands
covered a solution that contemporary art struggles in a location, which is also an alien space to the
with. The painter had discovered and was able to biennial itself and leaves no lasting positive impact.
diagnose the difficulty he faced in resolving his visual The keys are education and a genuine interest
literacy. This viewpoint stands to assume a position and engagement with what is happening on the
that, what is perceived to be naive, is a notion ground. The primary reason for a biennial
derived from a stereotypical position rather make a should not be just a statistic but the development of
prognosis of the true nature of self. This conversation the local space and its communities, artistic ones
to which I am referring took place in and non-artistic ones. There is never data available to
relation to some aspects of my work because it was see how many different new kinds of people a bien-
dealing with today’s issues, because it chose to deal nial managed to attract each time.
with contemporary issues, whereas the work could Working with grassroots groups means to
transcend into the purity of self (he called it pure identify the community and work with them as a
art). It is an ongoing conversation in my work module for many years and see how things
process that I am inclined to take either way, but have changed. What positive changes have come
it has been a conversation that I could not refute to out of this work over the years? Has the art scene
distinguish the journey and the traveller in which a developed? Has the community’s relationship with
good artwork embodies both.  art changed? Are there more people taking up art as
  a career? Has a long-term interest in art developed?
OS: On the African continent, there have  
been examples of both long-lasting, well-established OS: How does the fact of being selected to
biennials like Dak’Art as well as those that ceased show one’s work at a biennial impact the art-
after only a few iterations (I am thinking of the ist? And what do you think about the process itself?
Johannesburg Biennale). What, in your view, is  
important for the success of a biennial, especially in MM: There are not that many biennials in
the African context? Do you believe that these Africa, so it is hard to make comparisons as to what
parameters of success are different for each specific works and what does not. One often hears the criti-
country where a biennial is based, or are they similar cism that the selection of artists for a particular
across the board? biennial was not fair. Curators often have their
  hands tied and can only have 50% of what they want,
and have 50% of what they can live with. Bienni-
als are often not done or created by the artists for the

66 Issue 32 / October 2016

Mishek Masamvu In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

artists. There is a viewpoint that relegates artists to Misheck Masamvu lives and works in Harare. He
the outside of the dealings with all the organizational studied at Atelier Delta, Harare, and at the Kunst
and financial issues. So it is the others who do the Akademie in Munich, Germany. Known as the leader of a
selections, and their motivations could be a problem. new school of Zimbabwean painting that has emerged in
There is often a lot of dissatisfaction with the selec- recent years, Masamvu, together with his wife, Gina
tions; and it is claimed that no information is made Maxim, nurtures young artists through their Village Unhu
available to the artists on the ground. The artists are studio and residency programme, some of whom have gone
just told, so, as a result of the process itself, artists on to establish great reputations and international careers.
may feel that they are being conditioned to do what Masamvu’s work became known on the rest of the
the curator wants them to do to meet their goals as continent and internationally, which led to his participation
they have that power of choice. The result—what at the 2006 Dakar Biennale, and he was confirmed as the
ends up in the show—is never 100% but, nonethe- eminent practitioner of his generation with his participation
less, it is often 50% acceptable (to both the curators in the 54th Venice Biennale [2011] where he represented
and the artists).  Zimbabwe.
The danger for the biennials in Africa is the
promotion of the “fraction”, perpetuated by the hunt
for the new name, in the context of the recent rise in Olga Speakes lives and works in Cape Town,
interest in the art from the continent; of those who South Africa. She completed her Honours in Curatorship at
are prepared to compromise to give the curator and the Michaelis School of Fine Art and Centre for Curating
the audiences that matter what they want and the Archive at the University of Cape Town in 2013 and is
expect. They also forget that an artist comes from a currently writing her dissertation on South African
community, is a member of the community, and Diaspora art.
sometimes that community is a sacred source. One
hopes the focus should shift back from the drive to
consume to focus on development, self-
growth. Biennials on the continent should not be
made for geopolitical reasons but should be inclusive
of the communities where they operate.
 
OS: You mentioned that you still see a lot of
stereotypes and preconceived ideas about art from
Africa. Could you tell me more about your experi-
ences?
 
MM: Africa is ‘Africa’ whatever that means. 

67 Issue 32 / October 2016

Mishek Masamvu In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

1 2

Captions
1 Misheck Masamvu, Behind locked doors does
not feel safe anymore (2014), Oil on canvas, 150 × 210
cm. Courtesy of the artist and blank projects.
2 Misheck Masamvu, Chains, shouting, hand
clapping and laughing (2014), Oil on canvas,
103 × 92 cm. Courtesy of the artist and blank projects.
3 Misheck Masamvu at Yango Biennale.
Installation view. Courtesy Yango Biennale

68 Issue 32 / October 2016

Imprint In this Context: Collaborations & Biennials

Imprint
Issue 32

Publisher
Dorothee Richter

Co-Publisher
Michael Birchall, Ronald Kolb

Editor
Nkule Mabaso

Contributors
Ntone Edjabe, Justin Davy, Elvira Dyangani Ose,
Misheck Masamvu, Marcus Neustetter,
Smooth Nzewi, Daudi Karungi, Iolanda Pensa,
Gregory G. Sholette

Interviews conducted by
Nancy Dantas, Valeria Geselev, Abongile Gwele,
Nkule Mabaso, Olga Speakes

Proofreading
Stephanie Carwin

Web Design and Graphic Design Concept

Ronald Kolb, Biotop 3000

Graphic Design Issue 32

Ronald Kolb, Biotop 3000

Supported by
Postgraduate Programme in Curating, ZHdK
(www.curating.org)

Institute for Cultural Studies in the Arts (ICS),

Department of Cultural Analysis,
Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK)

70 Issue 32 / October 2016

ONCURATING.org is an independent international
journal (both web and print) focusing on questions
around curatorial practise and theory.

ONCURATING.org
Toni-Areal,
Pfingstweidstrasse 96,
8031 Zürich
[email protected]
www.on-curating.org

For advertising options please visit

our website and get in touch!

Supported by
Postgraduate Programme in Curating, ZHdK
(www.curating.org)

Institute for Cultural Studies in the Arts (ICS),

Department of Cultural Analysis,
Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK)