{"id":141997,"date":"2019-07-24T22:47:38","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T20:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/david-koloane-fought-for-the-right-to-define-himself-and-his-art-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2019-07-24T22:47:38","modified_gmt":"2019-07-24T20:47:38","slug":"david-koloane-fought-for-the-right-to-define-himself-and-his-art-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/david-koloane-fought-for-the-right-to-define-himself-and-his-art-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"David Koloane fought for the right to define himself — and his art | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Koloane fought for the right to define himself — and his art<\/a>: <\/p>\n

Artist David Koloane believed that education extended far beyond the borders of institutions. <\/span> Rhodes University<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr David Nthubu Koloane, who was born in South Africa in 1938, was an extraordinary pioneer in the visual arts who fiercely defied any form of categorisation. As an artist, teacher, mentor, curator, arts administrator and author, he fought for the human right to define oneself and to determine one\u2019s own future. <\/p>\n

Over the years he has consistently received high praise. President Cyril Ramaphosa referred to him as a \u201cgiant in the arts\u201d. Former President Thabo Mbeki called him<\/p>\n

\n

a loyal fighter for the liberation of our people.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And renowned author Nadine Gordimer referred to him as a \u201cleading force in the promotion of South African artists\u201d.<\/p>\n

Koloane\u2019s contribution to the visual arts in South Africa is unsurpassed. Despite the accolades and multiple honorary doctorates bestowed on him, his role as Ntate-moholo (grandfather) to young artists was most precious to him.<\/p>\n

Mentored by the South African artist Louis Khehla Maqhubela, who was also his friend, Koloane in turn mentored numerous artists. His perception of education extended far beyond the borders of institutions. \u201cTravel has been the best education of my life,\u201d he stated. <\/p>\n

Koloane was deeply influenced by Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness movement. It was important, he suggested, \u201cto try and instill that sense of self-worth in\u2026 local artists\u201d. <\/p>\n

When he curated the South African component of Seven Stories of Modern Art in Africa at London\u2019s Whitechapel Gallery in 1995, he brought together artworks by Ezrom Legae, Sam Nhlengethwa, Paul Stopforth and Alfred Thoba that depicted the events leading to Biko\u2019s death. Koloane said at the time:<\/p>\n

\n

The Biko event, more than any other occurrence, touched every human chord\u2026 It provoked international outrage. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A few years later, Koloane created his own series of artworks that grappled with the physical and psychological torture of Biko. Titled \u201cThe Journey\u201d (1998), the series of 20 works depicting Biko reflected the broader context of what Koloane called the \u201cimmense human tragedy\u201d of apartheid. <\/p>\n

This series, revealed Koloane, was \u201calso a journey for me\u201d. Many of Koloane\u2019s artworks dealt with the daily experiences of living in apartheid South Africa and navigating, for example, the Group Areas Act and the Separate Amenities Act. \u201cI had not been inside an art museum until I was in my mid-thirties\u201d he lamented, as one had to be \u201caccompanied by a white and, by implication, superior person\u201d. <\/p>\n

Abstraction as resistance<\/h2>\n

Notions of contentious and uncomfortable space (whether public space, domestic space or the means of moving through space) were important to Koloane\u2019s artwork. In his Johannesburg cityscapes; his depictions of dogs roaming the streets; and his aerial views of minibus taxies (or as he referred to them, \u201cmoving coffins\u201d), he often leant towards abstraction. By doing so, he refuted categorisation. <\/p>\n

He explained this in many interviews as well as in his own writing:<\/p>\n

\n

We were expected to do township work, black work, rather than work done by any artist. <\/p>\n

The work of practitioners in urban settlements has been indiscriminately referred to as \u201ctownship art\u201d as a means of differentiating the artist\u2019s work from mainstream art produced by white practitioners. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The art market sought a depiction of townships that was a \u201csentimental form of expression rather than a depiction of real social conditions\u201d. <\/p>\n

Koloane\u2019s abstraction, as such, became a form of resistance; a refusal to create the work that the art world expected him to create. While some critics then referred to his work as abstract expressionism, he paid little attention to the labels and categories of art critics. \u201cWhat is abstract art?\u201d he once asked. \u201cIn order to express anything you have to abstract it. To say it is realistic, you have to abstract it to bring out the realistic elements\u201d.<\/p>\n

Boldly moving forward with his own artistic process, he attached little importance to reviews of his work, declaring:<\/p>\n

\n

I enjoy not having to look over my shoulder.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a critically important lesson for young artists today, who work in the contrived and fickle world of \u201cglobal art\u201d that tends to prey on those deemed profitable by the Western-driven art market. <\/p>\n

Remote-controlled identities<\/h2>\n

In the current art market, the label \u201cAfrican artist\u201d is deeply problematic when imposed on artists by dealers and curators not only disconnected by context but also blinded by privilege. As Koloane once wrote:<\/p>\n

\n

It is only Black artists who are insistently reminded at every possible occasion about their own identity, and how they should be conscious of it. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In his writing, Koloane was courageous in his censure of international curators who flocked to South Africa after 1994 to consume what was deemed the new fashion in the arts. <\/p>\n

He was critical, too, of South Africans in the art world who clamoured \u201cfor international acceptance\u201d despite the fact that South African identities were being \u201cmeasured by remote-controlled Western standards\u201d. <\/p>\n

He referred to curators who transplanted Western-styled biennales onto African soil as \u201cchoirmasters on pedestals\u201d and \u201cultimate surveyors\u201d involved in the power game of the \u201cmega-exhibition merry-go-round\u201d. <\/p>\n

Critique still relevant today<\/h2>\n

Although such critiques were espoused two decades ago, Koloane\u2019s views are still pertinent today. He lamented the fact that in the early post-apartheid years, the art world viewed international exposure as connection with Western Europe and North America, rather than connection first with Southern Africa and then with the rest of the African continent. He wrote:<\/p>\n

\n

The very axis of the Johannesburg Biennale was based outside South Africa, and its emphasis was therefore on things non-African\u2026 The link with Africa is essential to the redefinition of creative expression and the interchange of skills and resources. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There is still much to learn from Ntate-moholo, as the contemporary hype about \u201cAfrican art\u201d continues to be largely driven by Western capital. Perhaps his greatest gift to others is the example he set in terms of being himself and defining himself as an artist and as a human being. When questioned about his shift to abstract work he answered:<\/p>\n

\n

One doesn\u2019t consciously say \u201cnow I am doing abstract art, now I am doing something else\u201d. The analogy is to singing. You sing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Ruth Simbao receives funding from the South African National Research Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong> The Conversation \u2013 Articles (AFRICA)<\/a><\/small>
\n<\/p>\n

Read more on The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Join the fun:<\/strong> Add Your event<\/a> | Submit a Press Release<\/a> | Add your listing<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Koloane fought for the right to define himself — and his art: Artist David Koloane believed that education extended far beyond the borders of institutions. Rhodes University Dr David Nthubu Koloane, who was born in South Africa in 1938, was an extraordinary pioneer in the visual arts who fiercely defied any form of categorisation. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[8890,5008,12261,24757,6689,35345,5100],"class_list":{"0":"post-141997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-africa-news-2","7":"tag-conversation","8":"tag-david","9":"tag-define","10":"tag-fought","11":"tag-himself","12":"tag-koloane","13":"tag-right","14":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141997\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}