Category: CREATIVES

Women-of-colour creatives.

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WORKS: Reshma Chhiba – Performance

Bharatanatyam Choreography and Performance by/with Reshma Chhiba

Bhūmi | Earth, performed by the Sarvavidya Dance Ensemble, 2023, The Lesedi at Joburg Theatre

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

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WORKS: Reshma Chhiba – Writing

Texts by Reshma Chhiba

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

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WORKS: Senzeni Marasela – Exhibitions

Exhibitions by/with Senzeni Marasela

Solo exhibitions

2020

Senzeni Marasela, Waiting for Gebane, Zeitz MOCAA, 18 Dec 2020 – 02 May 2021
View here
Watch the exhibition trailer on youtube
Listen to the the Audio Tour here

Zeitz MOCAA presents a solo show with the South African artist Senzeni Marasela. The exhibition traces significant themes in her practice, particularly in relation to the persona and alter ego of the artist, Theodorah. Inspired by, and in femage to her mother, Marasela has over the last sixteen years explored the role of black working women in South Africa, subjected to the devastating effects of migration, patriarchy, and apartheid. Through printmaking, drawing, performance, and mixed-media installations involving textiles and embroidery, Marasela’s work unpacks history, memory, and personal narrative, emphasising historical gaps and overlooked figures.

2018

Senzeni Marasela, Waiting for Gebane: Dolly Parton. Toffee Gallery, Darling, South Africa
View here
Exhibition catalogue available here
Online announcements: westcoastway

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WORKS: Shelley Barry – Film

Explore Shelly Barry’s YouTube Channel

Exhibitions and Screenings (selection)

2019

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

2019

Here (VR dance film installation, South Africa, 10mins) 
Premiere at the Together! 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. 

Presented at Latitudes Art Fair 2020

Out of Reach (video poetry) 
The city is out of reach for people with disabilities. 

Ink/Visible 
A writer contemplates how writing counters invisibility. 

2015

Keep in Touch

This fast paced, edgy music documentary celebrates the rise of Dope St Junde, a young, gender queer hip- hop star and all the challenges she faces in their quest for success.

Review:
Staff writer (2015) Feminist Filmmaker Meets Boss Bitch Rapper. thejournalist 18 June 2015. Available online here.

2014

I’m Not Done Yet
A tribute to artist, activist and writer, Charlene Maslamoney who succumbed to cancer in 2013. The 48-minute documentary celebrates Charlene’s work.

Reviews:
Arts Writer (2015) Filmmaker Barry’s new work inspires hope. Cape Times 21 May 2015. Available online here.
Cornelius, Jerome (2015) Film on activist’s cancer journey to touch patients’ lives. Times Live (7 August 2015). Available online here.
Lewis, Desiree (2015) Gender, feminism and food studies. African Security Review, 24(4): 414-429. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2015.1090115
Available online here.

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.

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, UCT, screened at UCT School of Dance on 9 April 2011

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. 

Presented at Latitudes Art Fair 2020
Watch preview on Vimeo:

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) 
Three experimental shorts which deal with sexuality, visibility, and voice from the perspective of a wheelchair user who turns the camera on herself to celebrate love and survival. Including Pin Pricks, Voice/Over and Entry (Source: African Film Festival New York)

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 

Presented at Latitudes Art Fair 2020
Watch preview on Vimeo

African Film Festival New York
International Movie Database

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WORKS: Shelley Barry – Writing

Texts by Shelley Barry

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 (2006) Why this meeting is important. International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) presentation to the UN Small Arms Review Conference 26 June-7 July 2006. French here [download pdf here or here] Draft report of the meeting here.

Barry, Shelley (2006) Disability and desire: journey of a filmmaker. Feminist Africa 6: Subaltern Sexualities, 65-68.
[download pdf here]

Barry, Shelley (2005) voice/over. Sister Namibia 17:1, 31. [download pdf here]

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, Shelley (1999) ICU. In African Women’s Voices.
PDF available 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].

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WORKS: Sophie Peters – Exhibitions and Commissions

Exhibitions by/with Sophie Peters

Solo exhibitions

 2007
Hand to Plough Landscapes, The Framery Gallery, Cape Town

1995
Cry from the Heart, Belville Association of Arts, Cape Town

Group exhibitions

2022-2023

When Rainclouds Gather: Black South African Women Artists, 1940 – 2000, Norval Foundation, Cape Town.
Access exhibition page here

2019
Botanica II, Contemporary Botanical Art at Art B. Gallery in Belville
Lino Printmaking Workshop Hout Bay Contemporary
Digital Museum of Art and Memory, District Six Museum

2018
Woordfees The Endless Horizon Print Portfolio

2010
1910-2010 From Pieneef to Gugulective, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town
Gill Alderman Gallery, Kenilworth, Cape Town

2008
Provoke, Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town
Some South African Voices, Rose Korber Art Consultancy, Cape Town
Mapping Cultural Echoes – Voyage Ensemble, Harare International Festival of Arts (HIFA), Harare

2007
africa south, Association for Visual Arts Gallery, Cape Town

2006
Art in Business, Artscape, Cape Town
Face (In) Cape Town, Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town
A Journey Together, Voyage Ensemble, Scalabrini Centre, Cape Town

2005
Botaki Exhibition 2, Old Mutual Asset Managers, Cape Town
Botaki Exhibition 4, Old Mutual Asset Managers, Cape Town

2004
Her Story, Association for Visual Arts Gallery, Cape Town
Renaissance, Cape Gallery, Cape Town

2004
A Decade of Democracy, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town

2003
Dreams of Our Daughters, Klein Karoo Kunstefees, Oudtshoorn

2001
The Hourglass Project A Women’s Vision, Art on Paper, Johannesburg; UNISA Gallery, Pretoria
Homecoming, Guga S’Thebe, Cape Town

2000
How the Land Lies, Chelsea Gallery, Cape Town
Greatmore Studios Official Opening, Greatmore Studios, Cape Town
Exhibitions in Germany and Iceland


1999
Portfolio for Playing Cards, Sasol Art Museum, Stellenbosch; Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria; Gencor Gallery, Johannesburg (Print Exchange)
Ten Years of Printmaking, Hard Ground Printmakers, Sanlam Art Gallery, Cape Town

1998
Siwela Ngaphesheya, Crossing the water, Robben Island Museum, Robben Island
Ekhaya, travelling exhibition, Western Cape
Dis Nag – The Cape’s Hidden Roots in Slavery, Iziko South African Cultural History Museum, Cape Town
Artist for Africa, Sweden
Recent Publications, Hard Ground Printmakers, Grahamstown Festival, Grahamstown

1997
Recent Publications, Hard Ground Printmakers, Association for Visual Arts Gallery, Cape Town
The Body Politic, Association for Visual Arts Gallery, Cape Town
Sicula Sixhentsa Xa Sisonke – The South Africa Aesthetic (USA travelling exhibition), Mississippi, Detroit, New York


1996
Human Rights, South African Cultural History Museum, Cape Town
Barricaded Rainbow, Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town, Cape Town
Artists Against Apartheid, Parliament, Cape Town, South Africa

1995 
Relief in Black and White, Brighton Festival, Brighton

1994
Creating Image, Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town
Exhibition (USA travelling exhibition), Brooklyn, Massachussets

1993
South Africa in Black and White, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town
Picturing Our World, Grahamstown Festival, Grahamstown; Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town
Women on Women, Seef Trust Art Gallery, Cape Town

1992
Looking Back, Community Arts Project, Cape Town
Visual Arts Group Travelling Exhibition, Zolani Centre, Nyanga East; Uluntu centre, Gugulethu; Mannenberg People’s Centre; Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town
Tapestry Wall, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria

1991
Visual Arts Group Travelling Exhibition, Cape Town
Transitions, Baxter Theatre Gallery, Cape Town
Art in the Avenue, Cape Town

1990 
Zabalaza Festival, Institute for Contemporary Art, London

1989
Nude, South African Association of Arts, Cape Town and Serendipity Gallery, Cape Town

1987
Peace for South Africa, Geneva, Switzerland 
Volkkas Atelier Exhibition, invited artists exhibition, Johannesburg Art Foundation, Johannesburg

1986
The Eye of an Artist, Gugulethu
Young Blood, South African Association of Arts, Cape Town

Commissions: Murals and Book Illustrations

2008
Arts Cape mural

2007
Safmarine, Cape Town (four paintings)

2004-05
Pentecostal Rapha Mission (mural)

2004
Adderley Street flower-sellers mural, Sea Point Protea Hotel, Cape Town

1998
Puleng and the Pumpkin (children’s book illustration)
Hair (children’s book illustration)
Truworths’ Millenium Calendar (linoprints)

1997
True Love at Last (written by Ginwala Dowling, illustration)
No More Stars in my Roof (written by Ginwala Dowling, illustration)
The Original Natural Living Diary (illustration)

1996
Robben Island Museum, Cape Town (mural)
District Six Museum, Cape Town (mural)
Department of Health, Cape Town (mural)
Mayibuye Centre, University of Western Cape, Cape Town (mural in celebration of Heritage Day)
The Black Sash Trust Annual Report (book cover illustration)
Day-by-Day English, Maskew Miller Longman, Midrand (book illustration)

1994
Nico Malan Opera House / Artscape Opera House, Cape Town (mural with Tshidi Sefako and Xolile Mtakatya)
Hanover Park Murals, Cape Town City Council
Peace in our Land (mural commissioned by Nedbank)
Mafia and the Aeroplane, written by Max Sed, published by Human & Rousseau

1992
The Old Days (woodcut) in: Staffrider, 10:3, Cosaw Publishing, Johannesburg, p. 171991
Transitions, Baxter Gallery, Cape Town (mural with members of Hard-Ground Printmakers Workshop)

1990
Zabalaza Festival, London (murals in collaboration with other artists)

1987
Community House, Salt River, Cape Town (murals in collaboration with other artists)

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WORKS: Sophie Peters – Workshops and Residencies

Workshops facilitated by Sophie Peters
2006
Community Art Workshop, Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town

2004
Renaissance Printmaking Workshop, Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town

2001
Greatmore Studios, Cape Town
Caversham Press, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

2000
Print 2000, Maastricht, Netherlands

1997
Printmaking Project, Robben Island, Cape Town

1990
Zabalaza Festival, London

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