Scratching the Surface Vol.1 a manje-manje initiative combined new and re-visited visual and performance work by artists creating individually and in
collaboration.
As the first curatorial initiative manje-manje projects, selected artists and their work employed a play on the contemporary that is as current as it is elusive. "Manje" is a Nguni word meaning "now". Said once, the word has an urgency that becomes ambiguous once it is repeated. Thus, manje-manje, in relative terms, refers to the immediate past, the present as well as time to come.
Triggered by a desire to obliterate/reveal/satisfy/mark/damage, Scratching the Surface Vol.1 facilitates the performance of Hip-Hop rituals, mapping skin conditions, repeated memory repeated, uncontrollably itchy feet and marks made by sound.
Scratching the Surface Vol.1 served as experiential experiment in exhibition making across continuously blurring artistic disciplines. Much like the dated experience of writing lesson notes onto a slate, the curatorial process became a loop of scratching, re-membering, learning and erasing.
In collaboration with manje-manje projects and as a development of its cooperative curatorial experiment, L'appartement 22 in Rabat, Morocco presented a selection of works from Scratching the Surface Vol.1 by showing the video works of Simone Leigh (USA) and Dineo Boppape (SA).
Performances by Mlu Zondi, Alude Mahali, Gugulective, Kate Streek & Penny Youngleson were presented at the opening on the 4th of August, 2008. A collaborative once off performance by Julian Jonker and Garth Erasmus were also presented at the AVA. On Friday 8th August the Gugulective launched "Native Yard Memiors" in Gugulethu, Kwa Mlamli.
FEATURED ARTISTS:
Dineo Bopape
Gugulective
Bandile Gumbi
Julia Jonker & Garth Erasmus
Donna Kukama
Kemang Wa Lehulere
Simone Leigh
Thando Mama
Zanele Muholi
Kalinosi Mutale
Robin Rhode
Ruth Sacks
Sean Slemon
Alude Mahali, Katy Streek & Penny Youngleson
Ernestine White
Mlu Zondi
CURATED BY: GAbi Ngcobo and Mwenya Kabwe-manje-manje projects (m-mp)
ASSISTED BY: Lerato Bereng-CApe Africa Platform Young Curator
Sponsors and Partners: AVA GAllery, National Lottery, Goethe Institute Johannesburg, Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, L'appartement 22, Cape Africa Platform, Spier, Cafe Mozart
Sean Slemon. Joburg one to eleven
Ruth Sacks. Never Quite the There
Bandile Gumbi. Things that make the skin itch
Kemang Wa Lehulere. Untitled
Kalinosi Victor Mutale. Kali Dictionary
Dineo Popape. Under all means necessary
Robin Rhode. Microphone
Alude Mahali, Katy Streek & Penny Youngleson. Jetsam
Thando Mama. Detail of Revolution Now 1-5
Gugulective. Native Yard 7 (NY 7)
