Maart and Butcher on 'Localities'

Aaron Mfihlo, Mnandi Beach, linocut, 1987

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
THE WESTERN CAPE ART COLLECTION

Articles by APC associates Brenton Maart and Clare Butcher have been published in the latest edition of Third Text Africa, which revolves around the theme 'Localities'.

Third Text Africa is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that publishes critical perspectives on contemporary art and culture, with a particular interest in facilitating and stimulating critical scholarship on and from the African continent. Published by ASAI (Africa South Art Initiative), the journal operates independently of the print journal and is edited by Natasha Himmelman, Lize von Robbroeck and APC fellow Mario Pissara.

'Contributors have located their texts in various transnational, national, urban and rural contexts that are mostly, but not exclusively, on the African continent,' write Pissarra and Van Robbroeck in the editorial, Locating 'Localities'. 'Adopting tones that encompass self-reflexive, critical, provocative, and playful responses, they introduce and probe a wide-range of related themes.

'These include the translation of aesthetic objects through curatorial projects (Butcher), and the inscription of localised specificities in contemporary art practice in cosmopolitan African contexts (Garber). Hard questions are asked of cultural heritage in postcolonial African nation-states (Mhishi, Mzayiya), and of the place of Africa in the cultural identity of non-African countries (Frank). Readers are prompted to experience, mourn and (re)consider ideologically laden historical spaces as constituting forms of memorialisation and re-membering (Jaar, Maart, Sondiyazi, Zenzile). Cautionary observations are made on the risks of reductive readings of localised projects (Pissarra), while pragmatic limitations are acknowledged and problematised (Grunebaum). There are reflections on the dynamism of local practices in contexts where critical writing by 'indigenes' are recently beginning to emerge as an important agency (Labi), as well as on the legitimacy and challenges of writing national art histories in the aftermath of post-modernism and globalisation (van Robbroeck). Together, these texts highlight the richness of the theme, demonstrating its relevance for contemporary discourse.'

'We aim to publish two issues a year and are currently working on the next edition on East/ern Africa, which will be followed by one on Mozambique,' says Pissarra. The journal is still soliciting material for these forthcoming editions. Interested contributors should mail: editor@asai.co.za.