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When the curatorial team settled on the ‘Ctrl + Z’ theme for this year’s Heat Winter Arts Festival, which takes place in Cape Town in August, we didn’t realise how attractive the idea of undoing events and conditions in the world would become in light of the war in Iran and the local anti-foreigner sentiment.
The title of the theme was, of course, borrowed from the familiar keyboard shortcut for “undo”, but on a metaphorical level it reflects a collective desire to reverse actions in a world shaped by historical, political, environmental and economic damage. We were interested in juxtaposing the instantaneous nature of undoing in the digital realm with the slower process of reversing events in the real world.
With a programme spanning art, theatre, opera, digital art, music and dance, the festival’s theme offers a compelling lens through which to view this year’s works as the event enters its third edition.
The title of the theme was, of course, borrowed from the familiar keyboard shortcut for “undo”, but on a metaphorical level it reflects a collective desire to reverse actions in a world shaped by historical, political, environmental and economic damage
The core of the festival is the art exhibitions. The event was devised to drive feet into galleries and museums during what’s considered to be ‘dead’ time in Cape Town due to the absence of tourists and the inclement weather. It’s been working. Galleries reported a substantial increase in foot traffic and sales during the festival last year.
The annual theme galvanises interesting programming, as do the multiple art events surrounding the exhibitions, from talks to curator-led walkabouts. Gallery partners this year include Aspire Art in collaboration with David Krut Projects, AVA Gallery, Christopher Moller Gallery, Eclectica Contemporary, Everard Read/CIRCA Galleries, House Union Block (Spier Arts Trust), Nel Gallery, SMAC Gallery, WORLDART, Untitled Art, Berman Contemporary All Women Gallery, 33Bree, Strauss & Co, Peffers Fine Art, THK Gallery, and Thomarts Gallery. Zeitz MOCAA, Iziko Old Town House, South African National Gallery, and Norval Foundation are our museum partners.
The notion of ‘undoing’ has manifested in two noticeable ways in the visual arts programming: through a heightened interest in materiality — engaging with the materials of art — and reworking archival documents.
At the newly opened Berman Contemporary All Women Art Gallery, Thirza Schaap’s Plastic Ocean presents discarded plastic collected from shorelines into seductive sculptural compositions, revealing the residue of everyday consumption and ecological neglect. Nkosinathi Thomas Ngulube’s Bags of Stories at Thomarts Gallery sees reused coffee bags and coffee extracts as vessels for memory.
Can art help advance the repair of historical wrongs? Reconfiguring materials, reassigning their use, is one way in which artists are turning away from virtual spheres and reworking definitions of art.
A focus on materials is notable in the much-anticipated preview of the second edition of Matereality at the Iziko South African National Gallery, curated by Andrea Lewis. The exhibition brings together contemporary artists from across the African continent, including Bella Knemeyer, Inga Somdyala, Warren Maroon, Sepideh Mehraban, Kamyar Bineshtarigh, Bonolo Kavula, Lungiswa Gqunta, Chris Soal, Unathi Mkonto, Kimathi Mafafo, Dada Khanyisa, Elias Sime and Abdoulaye Konaté. The artists work with unconventional materials — soil, cloth, wood, metal, found objects, and industrial substances. The title, Matereality, explores how materials can shape reality.
At Eclectica Contemporary, Lars Fischedick ‘undoes’ the functional role of wood, cutting into it to disrupt and erode the material. At Peffers Fine Art, Tshepo Phokojoe’s textile works, which echo the undoing of the structure of the fabric in the manner of Fischedick, are placed in dialogue with Edoardo Villa’s steel sculptures. These unexpected pairings prompt a rereading of Villa’s archive — the messy, tactile quality of Phokojoe’s work contrasts with the sharp lines of his modernist sculpture.
The reassembling of archives defines the work of Tshepiso Moropa at THK Gallery, who reconstitutes dated photographs. Jasirah Sayed’s practice, on view at Eclectica Contemporary, sees the artist also working with material drawn from family archives, employing handwritten texts, decorative motifs and photographic transfers. Her work is an act of remembrance and reconstruction.
Feeding off Moropa’s art at THK Gallery, Opera UCT will present Rewind. Using music to draw out emotional responses to art and feelings of nostalgia and loss that inevitably rise to the surface in the act of relooking, is a common thread in the live performances at the festival this year. At the recently reopened Iziko Old Town House Museum, the Reflections exhibition will be activated on opening night by the choir Amici De Lumine and Opera UCT in the Concert of Birds, centring on a 17th-century work of the same name.
The theatre programme presents works that pivot on the reconstitution of history. Essay on Dying, presented by the acclaimed Swiss theatre-maker Boris Nikitin, reflects on witnessing his father’s physical decline in the face of a terminal illness, revealing the human compulsion to cling to life and to adapt no matter the circumstances. Rescue Remedy, performed by Roland du Preez, also centres on the dynamic between a father and son. Through recollection and comedy, it shapes this relationship into a narrative about how writing and performance can allow both subjects and audiences to ‘undo’ harm and restore balance.
In Rhythms of a Forgotten Jazz by Hlumela Matika, and Ghoema: Rediscovering The Journey of Me by MNIX, the “undoing” of individual and collective histories is supported by music or sound archives. Matika re-examines the legacy of Tete Mbambisa and South African jazz, while MNIX, a gender-fluid artist, traces a path through childhood memories, community traditions and the diverse aural influences that have shaped their identity and unique musical voice. It’s a journey from Kaapse Klopse to the soulful improvisations of Cape jazz to the storytelling traditions of Cape folk music, and the elegance of Western classical music.
It is the undoing and redoing of physical movement and gesture in the dance work Yazuke, performed by the dance company Baba Yaya, that reaches far back in time — a retelling of the first African samurai warrior in 16th-century Japan. It’s directed by Benjamin Nivison and Mandla Mbothwe and viscerally shows how identity is remade through ritual, violence and cultural norms.
- Mary Corrigall is the founder of the Heat Winter Art Festival, which takes place in Cape Town city centre venues from August 6-15. Visit www.heatfestival.org or book tickets on Quicket.
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