George Mahashe featured on Exuberance Project exhibition
'Africa has long been described by critics as being perched on a threshold - between inadequacy and potential, between something and nothingness,' read the programme notes. 'The Exuberance Project points to a welcome turnaround in the enactment of all that emerges from the African continent.'
The Exuberance Project embraced themes that shift from lack to abundance, from myths of a dark and brooding continent to vibrant, dynamic realism. Convened by Raél Jero Salley and Jay Pather, it was presented by the Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA) as part of the UCT Africa Month celebrations.
'Exuberanceis an abounding, ebullient, effervescent emotion. But it is also a shining, flickering, fragile state,' said Salley, noting that despair has found more sympathy with artists and scholars than has joy, so the world Africans occupy is seen and described by a view that is relentlessly grim. Africa and its people fare poorly in representations from global media, academic scholarship, and creative production. The Exuberance Project hoped to encourage different views, generate new energy and opportunities, while alerting us all to change and possibility. 'The Exuberance Project endeavors to enchant its public so we can make better sense of the complex effervescence of Southern Africa's places and spaces, ideas and passions,' he said.
The weekend long conference was packed with speakers from various parts of the country, performances, exhibitions and film screenings. The exhibition runs until 20 May.