Listen to Episode 8 of The ICA Podcast!
Featuring an in-depth interview with curator Nkule Mabaso, and with contributions from ICA Director, Jay Pather, academic Samuel Ravengai and choreographer and founder of the Moving Stories Theatre Organisation, Aphiwe Mpahleni.
Nkule Mabaso, an artist and curator with a Fine Art degree from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and a Masters in Curating from Zurich University of the Arts, is best known as a curator of visual art. This includes her role as Curator of UCT's Michaelis Galleries – where she curates and coordinates exhibitions, talks and symposiums – as well as major independent projects like the South African pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which she co-curated with Dr Nomusa Makhubu in 2019. (Read more about Mabaso and Makhubu's recently published book There are Mechanisms in Place).
But in this episode, we explore a critical but lesser-known facet of Mabaso's diverse practice: her experience creating and curating performative interventions and installations that probe the politics of hair and beauty.
In particular, we dive into her 2012-2013 performance, The Black Threat, a collaboration with artist Maninzi Kwatshube, starting with a walk through Cape Town’s CBD to re-visit the site where the work intervened into the public life of the city in March of 2013.
Nkule Mabaso. Photo by Livio Baumgartner
About the ICA Podcast
The ICA Podcast extends the work begun by the ICA’s 2019 publication Acts of Transgression: Contemporary Live Art in South Africa – through conversations with the creators and curators of Live Art. Read more about the vision for The ICA Podcast, and the artists featured in Season 1.
Listen and subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podcast Addict, or wherever you find podcasts. You can also listen on our website.
Maninzi Kwatshube in Nkule Mabaso's The Black Threat, 2013.
Maninzi Kwatshube in Nkule Mabaso's The Black Threat, 2012. Photo by Xolani Tulumani.
Maninzi Kwatshube, Aphiwe Mpahleni and Zizipho Gcasamba in Nkule Mabaso's The Black Threat, 2013.
Installation view: Nkule Mabaso, The Dread, 2011. Michaelis School of Art, UCT, Cape Town.
Installation view: Nkule Mabaso, Hair is where the story is, 2012. Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Denmark.
Looking ahead
Episode 8 marks the official end of Series 1 of The ICA Podcast. But we have one more offering before the year ends: look out for our Bonus Episode with writer Bongani Kona!
Music in this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions: Careless Morning; Smooth Stone; Steadfast and The Summit.