Machona and Ndjamena will presentInflux – a performance-based installation that seeks to transform migratory objects and garments. Crucial to this artwork is an attempt to disrupt the 55 minute hour scheme used by Cape Town garment factories, where an assembly line of seamstresses and seamsters were governed by a clock that marked 55 minutes of production and 5 minutes of recess every hour. Rather than rely on a clock to keep time, the two artists draw rhythm from a sewing machine to stitch together dance and installation.
The movement of people across geographic and political borders is central to the discourse on migration, but often the capital, objects and ideas that people carry with them exist long after the act of moving. As these things ‘migrate’ they can be repeatedly transformed both in function and form. With this in mind, Influx as a performance work presents audiences with a new way of interrogating historical and contemporary movement. The performance will be followed by an address by curator, Nkule Mabaso that contextualises Influx.
Influx was first commissioned by Off Plan International, an interdisciplinary curatorial collective comprising Mary Corrigall, Amy Watson and Nelisiwe Xaba. This performance was first realised as part of Cape Town Artweek in 2016.
Gerald Machona is a Zimbabwean-born visual artist and PhD candidate at UCT. His current work engages with issues of migration, social interaction and xenophobia in South Africa. In 2015, Machona’s work featured at the South African Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in Italy, and was also showcased at the 2016 Biennale of Sydney.
Pak Ndjamena is a Mozambican dancer and choreographer, and founding member of Esculturas Humanas Contemporary Dance Company, created in 2002 in Maputo. His work has travelled to Portugal, Germany, London and other parts of the world.
Nkule Mabaso, 1988, is curator of the Michaelis Galleries at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT.
The event will take place from 17:30 – 19:00 on Thursday 9 June 2016 at Hiddingh Hall, UCT Hiddingh Campus, 31 – 37 Orange Street, Cape Town. Refreshments will be served from 17:00. No booking is necessary and all are welcome.
This event is supported by an ANT Funding Grant from Pro Helvetia Johannesburg, financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
For more information, contact the ICA office: +27 21 650 7156 or sam.saevitzon@uct.ac.za
Listen to the podcast here.
Watch the performance here.
[Image credit: Gerald Machona - Influx still 2016, courtesy of the artist and Goodman Gallery]
Venue: Hiddingh Hall
Address: Google Map UCT Hiddingh Campus, 31 Orange Street, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa