1 August - 17 Sept 2019
The Counterspace Of Pop Culture In Zaire reimagines omitted histories of African power, representation, and global inclusion in the story of time and human civilization. The body of work presents a series of investigations that critique the erasure and counterfactual depictions of a true African history. Challenging monolithic history-telling, Magolide Collective - made up of Mzoxolo Mayongo & Adilson De Oliveira, intend to produce new modes of knowledge promulgation. The collective working with a spirited group of collaborators enact different roles and characters throughout the exhibition. Layered, complex and rich in symbolism, the elaborately staged tableaux beckons on the creative technology of mixed realities to remember the passing visceral moments and transport lived histories & cultural events into immortal digital space and virtual non-linearity.
Artists Gabriel Baard, Hafiza Asmal and Vincent Baloyi add a dynamic flare to the exhibition by including their voice into the space.
Technology has not only changed how we consume art. It has changed how we create, critique, and share it. In a rapidly changing social and cultural environment, video and digital art are becoming necessarily important genres of cultural expression and innovation. The Counterspace Of Pop Culture In Zaire merges virtual and augmented environments with traditional visual languages into a multi-sensory digital art installation. Employing universal symbols, theatrical sound and cultural imagery to create a seemingly transcendental experience, the body of work comments on the spectacle, pop-culture, and black identity.
The work brings video art and performance into a multi-dimensional world through the transmutation of 2D animation and photography, pushing the mixed-reality media into new unexplored outcomes of expression. As an active component and central figure, the viewer moves around in the illusionary space and is encouraged to remain present within the landscapes.
The huge influence that Western art history has had on our imaginations when it comes to visualising true African history or classics is arguably one that needs constant interrogation and The Counterspace Of Pop Culture In Zaire intends to do just that.
