Episode 2
Listen to Episode 2 of The ICA Podcast, featuring visual artist Asemahle Ntlonti!
In this second episode of Season 3, Ntlonti takes us through her arresting 2022 performance, Between my finger and thumb, which considers how histories are written, and speaks of digging up the past in order to retrieve what has been lost or forgotten. Ntlonti explores the weight of the pen, and the burden of remembering and recording, particularly in relation to land and dispossession.
Listen on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podcast Addict, on our website; or wherever you find podcasts.
Asemahle Ntlonti, Between my finger and thumb. 2022 ICA Live Art Festival. Photos by Xolani Tulumani.
Born in 1993 in Cape Town, Asemahle Ntlonti graduated from the University of Cape Town’s Michaelis School of Fine Art with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2017, where she majored in sculpture. She was awarded the 2018 Young Female Residency by The Project Space, a non-profit cultural institution founded by the late Benon Lutaaya in Johannesburg. In 2019, Ntlonti attended a residency at the South African Foundation for Contemporary Art (SAFFCA) in Knysna and Saint Emilion, France.
Ntlonti’s work has been exhibited widely in South Africa and abroad. Vuthulula is Ntlonti’s third solo exhibition; previously she exhibited Nothwala impahlana at WHATIFTHEWORLD, and Kukho Isililo Somntu II at Blank Projects, Cape Town. Most recently, she participated in the group shows 021 – 2021, Stevenson, Amsterdam; Space & Place, Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig, Germany; and RESTUDIO, Johannesburg.
Asemahle Ntlonti. Photo by Manyaku Mashilo.
About The ICA Podcast
The Podcast – launched in July 2020 – emerged out of the ICA's 2019 publication Acts of Transgression: Contemporary Live Art in South Africa and extends the work begun by the book through conversations with the creators and curators of Live Art. Each episode is alive with music and audio from artists’ performances, and the weight and emotion of their personal stories.
Season 1 looked at the bodies of work of 8 diverse artists. In Season 2, each episode focused on a single performance, and the creative processes that brought them into being. Catch up on any episodes you may have missed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.
Season 3 – hosted by writer Nkgopoleng Moloi – explores 7 performances featured at the 2022 ICA Live Art Festival. Listen to each artist bring their immersive and richly layered performance to life, and reflect along the way on how their upbringing has shaped their practice.
The 7 episodes of Season 3 dive into:
I AM by Tandile Mbatsha
Between my finger and thumb by Asemahle Ntlonti
We are everywhere by Qondiswa James
Ifu Elimnyama: The Dark Cloud by Russel Hlongwane
Ingoduko yamaNkazana (The Return of the Home of Harlots) by Lukhanyiso Skosana
UkuNqula kukuThandaza by Nkosenathi Koela; and
Reclaiming the Poetics of Indigenous Horns by Kolawole Gbolahan.
Looking ahead
In Episode 3 we'll be speaking to cultural worker Qondiswa James. Join us then!
Rate and review the podcast on Apple podcasts to help other listeners find the show. Or share The ICA Podcast with a friend!
Asemahle Ntlonti, Between my finger and thumb. 2022 ICA Live Art Festival. Photo by Xolani Tulumani.