1998 Research proposal Puddled Sand and Red Ashes: A photographic documentary of the Kumbh Mela Supervisor: Vedant Nanackachand, Department of Fine Art & History of Art, UDW [download project outline here]
1997 Research survey The role of public art in a post-apartheid society with special reference to the Greater Ladysmith area 1997-1998 Field workers: Lallitha Jawahirilal, Vukile Ntuli (Lecturers in Painting, UDW) Supervisor: Vedant Nanackachand, Department of Fine Art & History of Art, UDW Research Assistant: Tracey Andrew [download questionnaire results here] [download Aloe Park Primary Mural Project letters here] [download Aloe Park Primary photo documentation here] [download Ladysmith Provincial Hospital Mural Project letters here]
1995 Research project The role of public art in a post-apartheid society with special reference to the Greater Ladysmith area 1995-1996(coordinated together with Mr Vukile Ntuli, Lecturer in Painting) Participants: Vedant Nanackachand, Department of Fine Art & History of Art, UDW Students and artists from UDW and the greater Durban and Ladysmith Area [download project outline here]
On the Wall of Reconciliation in Ladysmith (painted in 1995 by students from the Fine Arts Department at the University of Durban-Westvilleunder the co-ordination of Lallitha Jawahirilal) the rainbow motif dissolves and disintegrates into a layered wavy pattern that, in a sweeping motion, formally links separate panels and provides a useful compositional structure for dividing up the wall into separate emblematic units. With its expanding and contracting motions it appears alive and throbbing, thus off-setting some of the more rigid images. Its further appeal lies in the ambiguity of its meaning. In some sections the parallel stripes of primary colour, partly flowing out of a flag, prompt a reading as a rainbow, while in other sections the “rainbow” dissolves and integrates with the features of the landscape.
Alone in this wilderness I remain silent and unyielding (1991) 153 x 168 cm, oil on canvas Untitled (1992) Where does this mointain lead to (1993) oil on board Untitled (1998) I could severe this mind and lay it on your feet (2000)
Selected works 1980-1990
Untitled (Royal College of Art, 1980s) 56 x 41 cm Untitled (1987) 76 x 63,5 cm, etching What will become of you (1987), 76 x 56 cm, etching Untitled (1988) 79 x 61 cm, oil on board Untitled (1988) 137 x 152 cm, oil on board Light vibrates with pleasure at the small of pire tragedy and restless nights (n.d) No 10 (n.d)
2008 The African Art Centre, Durban 2002 Greatmore Studios, Cape Town 2001 Puddled Sand and Red Ashes, Monash University Faculty Gallery, Australia 1999 Curwen Gallery, London 1996 New Academy Gallery, London 1994 New Academy Gallery, London 1991 Galerie Trapez, Berlin 1990 Gallery 21, Johannesburg 1990 198 Gallery, London 1985 Africa Centre, Stockholm
Selected Group Exhibitions
2007 ‘Confluence’, Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad 2007 16th Anniversary Art Salon, Bangalore 2006 ‘Art Camp’, Renaissance Art Centre, Mumbai 2005 River Arts & Music Festival, Ladysmith, South Africa 2004 ‘Decade Of Democracy’, South African National Gallery, Cape Town 2003 ‘Journeys’, Ernest G. Welsh School of Art and Design, Atlanta 2001 ‘Jabulisa, The Art of KwaZulu Natal’, Durban Art Gallery, South Africa 2000 African Art Centre, Durban, South Africa 1999 Nico Malan Theatre, Cape Town 1998 ‘Kunst aus Südafrika’, Gallerie Seippel, Stuttgart, Germany 1998 Newcastle Museum, United Kingdom 1997 Trienalle, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi 1996 ‘Conjures’, First Gallery, Johannesburg 1991 ‘Discerning Eye’,The Mall Galleries, London 1991 Barcelona International Biennale, Spain 1990 Contemporary Art Society, Art Market, Smith Gallery, London 1990 ‘Broadgate’, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London 1989 ‘Art London/89’, London 1987-8 Third International Bienniale Print Exhibition, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan 1985 Mirror Reflecting Darkly: Black Women’s Art, Brixton Art Collective, London.
Mirror Reflecting Darkly: Black Women’s Art. 18 June – 6 July, Brixton Art Gallery, London. Unpag. (10 pp.) exhibiyion catalogue. Group exhibition of 16 Black women artists collective. Artists included: Brenda Patricia Agard, Zarina Bhimji, Jennifer Comrie, Novette Cummings, Valentina Emenyeoni, Carole Enahoro, Elisabeth Jackson, Lallitha Jawahirilal, Rita Keegan, Christine Luboga, Sue Macfarlane, Olusola Oyeleye, Betty Vaughan Richards, Enoyte Wanagho, and Paula Williams. 8vo, orange covers. Source: Brixton 50. Brixton Art Gallery Archive 1983-86
WHAT CAN BE SEEN Group Show, Spring/Break Art Show, New York, NY https://www.contemporaryand.com/magazines/the-collective-unearthingcensored- scenes-from-postwar-italian-cinema/
Here (VR dance film installation, South Africa, 10mins) Presented at: Immersive Africa Exhibition – A Collection of 360° Narratives Works by work by Nyasha Kadandara, Shelley Barry and Nirma Madhoo. Isivivana Center in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. 10-13 December 2019 Curated by Electric South
Presented at: In Frame – A 360 Film Exhibition 23 November 2019-11 January 2020 TMRW Gallery, Rosebank
Second Creativate Digital Arts Festival at the National Arts Festival Makhanda, 27 June to 7 July 2019 National Arts Festival 2019 #1, #2, #3
2010
An Evening With Shelley Barry
28 April 2010, New York University, 19 University Place, 1st Fl theater. Room 102. Part of the disTHIS! Film Series, a project of the Disabilities Network of NYC in association with the New York University Council for the Study of Disability, a monthly showcase of festival quality independent and international short, documentary and feature films with disability themes audiences are unlikely to see elsewhere. Film director Shelley Barry @ NYU, Sean Jacobs, Africasacrountry
2007
Umbilical Cord (rehearsal documentation) Presented at: eVokability: The Walking Project 14, 15, 16 June 2007 Dance Theatre Workshop Studio 219 West 19th Street, NYC 10011
22 & 23 June 2007 Spirit Wind Studio 213 New St., Philadelphia, PA 19106
Selected Filmography (2004-)
2019
Here (VR dance film installation, South Africa, 10mins) Premiere at theTogether! 2019 Disability Film Festival, 6-8 December 2019 The Old Town Hall Stratford Broadway London E15 4BQ, IMDB
2018
Re:incarnation (video poetry) A woman longs for her lover she has spent lifetimes with.
Out of Reach (video poetry) The city is out of reach for people with disabilities.
Ink/Visible A writer contemplates how writing counters invisibility.
2014
Diaries of a Dissident Poet (shortened documentary feature) Tracing the story of Dr James Matthews who used poetry to fight against the struggle and save his own life. Selected and sold out: Encounters Documentary Film Festival.
2015
I’m not done yet (shortened documentary feature) A woman creates art in response to the news of terminal cancer. Sold out screenings at Artscape Theatre.
2013
Mr Shakes the passion to Live (shortened documentary feature) A story of disco, cancer, tik. And Jesus. Selected and sold out: Encounters Documentary Film Festival
Trailer: Mr Shakes – the passion to live
2011
Place of Grace (in collaboration with Gerard Samuel) The dance of love and betrayal. Funded by GIPCA, UCTScreened at UCT School of Dance
2007
Where we planted Trees The story of nostalgia for a house taken away during the group areas act in Port Elizabeth. Best Documentary: Diamond Screen film festival, Philadelphia
New York/New Brighton (short fiction) Two young girls across the oceans (Port Elizabeth and New York) dream of meeting Mandela and Yemaya.
2006
Cry Like the Loons (experimental documentary) A car accident transforms a holiday experience.
Str/oll (experimental documentary) A woman in a wheelchair explores the streets of Manhattan.
Umbilical Cord A revisioning of Frida Kahlo’s painting “What the water gave me”
2005
Retrato/Portrait (short fiction) Portraits from the life of a transwoman reflecting on her transition and her fractured relationship with her mother.
Inclinations (short fiction) Co-directed with Jen Simmons A writer faces blocks in writing and in love. Extensive screenings worldwide. Purchased by MTV in 2007 Selected as top 10 click list on MTV’s online film site.
Where are my Heels? (experimental documentary) A two year old girl in Puerto Rico takes over a party.
Pants? Skirt? Lipstick? Queer couples and their friends plot a night of fooling immigration for a green card, during the Presidency of George Bush. Selected for screening at The San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2004
Whole A Trinity of Being (experimental documentary) (Pin Pricks + Voice/Over + Entry) A docu-poem about reclaiming life after trauma.
Best Film: Superfest: California Best Narrative Short: Philadelphia Festival of Independents Best Experimental Film: Breaking Barriers Festival: Moscow Best Experimental Film: Projections 2: Canada Spirit of Independence Award: Brooklyn (New York) International Disability Film Festival Jurors Citation Award: Black Maria Film Festival, New Jersey Outstanding Graduate Student Award, Pennsylvania Association of Graduate Schools Audre Lorde scholarship award for media production Television Acquisition: WYBE, DUTV (community tv stations USA) SABC, SA International festival screenings
Barry, Shelley (2013) Disability and desire: journey of a film-maker – life story. In: Ekine, Sokari (ed.) Queer African Reader. Nairobi, Dakar: Pambazuka Press.
Barry, Shelley (2011) The travelling poet. South Africa: British Council.
Barry, Shelley (2007) dipping inside elephantʼs eye. Presented at the 11th South African Womenʼs Arts Festival (SAWAF) 31 July – 12 August, The Playhouse, Durban.
Barry, Shelley, Deela Khan & Malika Ndlovu (eds.) (2003) Ink@ Boiling Point: A Selection of 21st Century Black Women’s Writing from the Southern Tip of Africa. Cape Town: WEAVE.
Barry, Shelley (2001) Strip. Surrender. Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity. African Feminisms One. No. 50, 128-130. [download pdf here]
Barry, Shelly (1998). Changing attitudes: an overview of awareness raising about disability in South Africa. Media Officer, Office on the Status of Disabled Persons, The Presidency, The Republic of South Africa. Published in 2001 as: Changing attitudes: an overview of awareness raising about disability in South Africa. Disability World 9 [download pdf here].
Chhiba, R. (2017) The two talking yonis : the use of Hindu iconography in conversations of race, identity, politics and womanhood within contemporary South African art. Nidan : International Journal for Indian Studies, Volume 2 Number 2, pp. 44 – 60
This article looks at the use of Hindu iconography within South African visual art practice and its relation to race, identity, politics and womanhood in the work of Reshma Chhiba. It draws primarily on work from the 2013 exhibition entitled The Two Talking Yonis: Reshma Chhiba in conversation with Nontobeko Ntombela, and discusses Chhiba’s use of the image of the goddess Kali, the concept of yoni, the use of Bharatanatyam and understandings of feminine energy in relation to womanhood. It also threads a narrative of Chhiba’s ancestry through a poetic description of her grandmother’s journey from India to South Africa, and the embodiment of Kali as a form of defiance not only in her work, but also in her grandmother. https://journals.co.za/content/journal/10520/EJC-c195dbc56
Bharatanatyam Choreography and Performance by/with Reshma Chhiba
ShrEe – I am more than just my body – Gandhi Hall, Lenasia, Johannesburg (Poster)
SHrEe: I am more than just my body
8 October 2017, Gandhi Hall, Lenasia, Johannesburg
“SHrEe, the latest production by Sarvavidya Natyaalaya (SVN) is an unravelling nnd narrative thread of current social issues faced by women in contemporary South Africa. With the sub-theme of I am more than just my body, SHrEe takes its audience back to the time of the Mahabharata and the infamous moment of the disrobing of Draupadi. Threading into this narrative it moves to the present moment, and uses spoken word and contemporary dance movement to retell stories of violence and violation against women. The production slowly unpacks the various emotional stages that women, who have experienced some form of violation or abuse, go through. SHrEe aims to reveal the primal force within these women, the goddess in various stages of being, in various stages of womanhood. From the ferocious rage of the violated woman (Kali), to collective teaching, learning and fighting, where words and voice are weapons (Saraswati), to the ironies of how society treats women, whether married or widowed (Lakshmi) and finally it moves to the claiming back of space, of goddess/woman in a state of equilibrium, who is neither less nor greater than her male counterpart (Ardhanareswara). ShrEe gives space to female voices who claim their emotional, physical and spiritual power back. “In a country where femicide and rape culture are so rife that it has become a norm, this production aims to bring these narratives and discussions into the public domain through the use of dance” (Chhiba, 2017). Abuse and violation should never be acceptable, therefore I am more than just my body speaks to many variations of abuse but also allows for empowered voices to be heard.”
From www.sarvavidya.co.za
