“Into the Nothingness”

“Into the Nothingness”

“Into the nothingness: The strangeness of seeing, what blinds our being” brings to the fore the entanglements of historical, physical, metaphysical and existential spheres of contemporary African lives. Through the distorted faces, fragmented landscapes and clear references to the dark memories that travel with us in sometimes nightmarish visions, are traces of knowledge systems that seem to explore these spheres of existence through artworks that cover cultural identities, different beliefs, cultural practices, mythologies and cosmologies.

The title describes the vacuum that has been created to silence theses mythologies. The idea of transcending theses boundless landscapes through art and bringing into light the importance of understanding, exposing and enjoying the many cultures and beliefs found in Africa. The exhibition will allow one to visualize, respond to and create dialog around the complexities that inspire African artists to create work that speak of their beliefs, thoughts, histories and their futures as well as the rich and complex traditions in a contemporary world. The work created by these artists was not so much concerned with imitating reality as with evoking its essence. Much of the desired approach to this exhibition is to draw from the manifestations of one’s dreams and visions as well as memory and place.

The selected works explores various modes of painting, textiles, sculpture and even photography. Somehow expanding the layers of the continent’s diversity. They make up a journey that echoes on the one hand a stereotypical reading of sections of history and commonly disclosed beliefs about the African continent, and on the other hand the way in which the rich imaginary stories are still in the process of being crafted.

Curated by Fulufhelo Mobadi

Fulufhelo Mobadi is a South African photographer and curator. Her curatorial and photographic practice focuses on the day-to-day struggles of women within contemporary South Africa and the African continent more broadly. Fulufhelo currently works as the Coordinator for Courses and Training at the Market Photo Workshop. In August 2019, at the Rencontres de la photographie d’Arles, she was awarded the first curatorial research fellowship granted for African projects. Entitled “She Bad Bad”, her exhibition project investigates Southern African/East African ideas around contemporary African photography in relation to documentary photography.