Browsing by Author "Hendricks, Zena"

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    Wearing cloth: a witness in motion
    (University of the Western Cape, 2024) Hendricks, Zena
    Like photography, the epistemological work of cloth is relegated to evidence of historical events or contexts. In relation to history, the material meanings of cloth are often relegated to stand as a supplement to textual evidence, due to their assumed cultural meanings and associations. This project positions cloth as an active witness to the process of making, and contesting histories. This is shown through a close looking at how the practices of making embedded in cloth, through the motion of the hand and natural material effects, actively mimic history-making practices in the everyday. To do so, this mini-thesis sets up the foundation of a philosophy of cloth by drawing on the similarities and differences between the medium of cloth and the medium of photography as makers of meaning. This philosophy of cloth is further founded upon the conceptual understanding of artistic orientations as an act of political witnessing. To further build and apply this philosophy, this mini-thesis hones into the artistic practices of Johannesburg- born visual artist Senzeni Marasela. Marasela is multimedia artist who works around performance, photography, drawings and most extensively, textiles and embroidery. For the purpose of this study, I hone into her six-year long performance (2013-2019) of wearing a tailored, traditional Xhosa isishweshwe dress in various daily spaces in South Africa and abroad. I also look at the residues of this performance through a close reading of Marasela’s retrospective exhibition, Waiting for Gebane, shown at the Zeitz MOCAA museum (2020-21). By interrogating these aspects of Marasela’s work, cloth is shown to exhibit a concurrent practice of deconstructing and reconstructing in the everyday as bodies navigate the burden and psychological weight of the pasts while fashioning a new path. The practices of cloth, namely style, styling, embroidery, stitching and material decay, show cloth to be an active witness to these complexities with the daily spaces of the post-apartheid South Africa.