Lionel Tazvitya Mbayiwa, Rangarirai varipasi (Remember the ones on the bottom), 2024
Kenneth Shandu,, Izambane likampondo, 2024 (detail)
Madeleine van Manen, Danger, 2024 (detail)
THE PROMISE
Lionel Mbayiwa, Kenneth Shandu, Madeleine van Manen and Rentia Retief
Curated by Nkosinathi Quwe
Main Gallery & Mezzanine: 16.01.25 - 27.02.25
WHERE DO WE BELONG?
Very rarely do we find ourselves at the end of life in the same place where we started. The relocation of people – voluntary or forceful, migrating across borders or moving within the same country – is almost always in search of a better life. It could be for financial betterment, spiritual connectedness or a myriad of other reasons.
Along with leaving and arriving, come displacement and a reconstruction of identity. Who can we become in our new environment, what promises did we make ourselves, which desires need to be fulfilled, and what promise does the new situation hold? There is a core desire: a longing to belong. To experience freedom in every sense, to enjoy security and to flourish.
Our long human history of inequality, xenophobia, gender violence, economic discrimination, etc. leads to the large majority of society being unsettled and often excluded from long-term viable opportunities.
As four artists from very different backgrounds, our collective narrative is that of seeking a secure sense of belonging within the environments we find ourselves in. We observe with sensitivity and respect the past and the present while cherishing dreams for ourselves and others. We reference our personal and direct observations of the environments we came to inhabit, our own situations within society, seeking meaning through symbolism and distilled imagery. Our experiences are seemingly overlapping through a recognition of the desire for the same and the search for calm within the chaos.
Looking for the promise of a better life, there is always a yearning, be it for economic stability, a stable and successful career, the peace of the great outdoors or the spiritual connectedness with what you know to be right, wise and good. To believe in the promise of a better life, is to trust.
Supported by Nando’s Creative Exchange in partnership with Spier Arts Trust
Rentia Retief, Far from all the things, 2024 (detail)