Power Talks Gqeberha was the first public arts event I attended after the multiple Covid 19 pandemic shutdowns. This public programme provided a wonderful sense of awakening, which was both enjoyable and thought-provoking. The day’s exhibitions and events provided a platform for an exciting mix of visual, fashion and musical artists. With stimulating works on display, there were also many opportunities for growth and networking, aimed at young artists in particular. The Goethe Institute deserves special congratulations for funding the Power Talks events implemented in the Eastern Cape, which has a strong presence and identity within the South African arts landscape, but has typically not been prioritised for cultural funding or artists’ platforms to the same extent as the country’s other major cities.
This has resulted in many artists from the Eastern Cape seeking out opportunities in other provinces, and often being forced to migrate to pursue success, which has left considerable gaps within the local industry. Against this backdrop of economic hardship and historical neglect with regards to arts funding and opportunities, the Gqeberha leg of Power Talks was characterised by a strong sense of homecoming and renewal. This was given tangible form through the participation of established artists whose career paths have taken them outside the province, who return – whether periodically or permanently – and are actively involved in various developmental programmes supporting young artists in the Eastern Cape. Examples of such participants include the curator of Power Talks Eastern Cape, the artist and writer Buntu Fihla, photographer Vuyo Giba, fine artist and illustrator Pola Maneli, and founders of Victory of the Word, Anelisa Mangcu and Athi-Patra Ruga, whose residency programme for young Eastern Cape artists in Amathole resulted in the BODYLAND exhibition (curated by Mangcu).
This dynamic sense of a future-oriented homecoming in the exhibition and events of Power Talks Gqeberha went beyond the practical examples of individuals and their projects. It also found expression thematically, in varied and pervasive ways: through profound intellectual engagements with what might be called the dynamic spacetime of culture – in relation to and situated within lived landscapes in the past, present, and future. The gigantic presence of historical trauma was neither ignored nor allowed to become all-encompassing in the artworks on display or in the events of the day. Grappling with the overcoming of pain seemed to be taken as a given, but was also simply one strand in composite questionings and affirmations of life in all its fullness.
My sense of the creative investigations that best characterised Power Talks Gqeberha is that they eschew nostalgia or sentimentality and bypass colonial binaries such as the imposed opposition between ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’. Rather, their reckoning with history embraces multiplicity in its celebration of rootedness, reinvention and innovation: creating a vibrant sense of present self-fashionings informed by past continuities while reaching towards new possibilities. In particular, Pola Maneli’s portraits of Blackness and the selections from Anelisa Mangcu’s BODYLAND illustrate this kind of preoccupation. Maneli’s portraits seem to harness alternative lenses as ways of seeing that effectively eliminate, rather than merely subvert (as an overt opposition would do) the white gaze on Blackness. His tributes to a canon of well-known figures draw inspiration from past heroes, while the striking newness of his forms invokes future achievements and alternative ways of viewing both past and present.
With regard to the BODYLAND selections, meanwhile, at Power Talks these consisted of a large projected video of artworks from the Amathole residency as well as a digital installation of Fundiswa Douw’s architectural work. Douw highlights amaXhosa beliefs about life as a cycle of birth, growth, death, and reincarnation that links to the spiritual realm of the ancestors and the material objects and spaces of the earth. The image of her work ‘Moving Cube’ combines geometric angles and curves in a manner that challenges conventional visual norms, achieving a sense of flow and of synthesis.
On the talking side of things, Pola Maneli’s presentation ‘Field Reporter’ was outstanding. He provided a fascinating retrospective account of his career in graphics design and illustration, discussing his experience working in the South African advertising industry as designer and art director, as well as the process of building his international career as an illustrator to the point of being sought after by prestigious global publications. Maneli’s account of his career experiences in the art and design field covered challenging issues, such as grappling with the ethical demands of navigating corporate spaces characterised by persistent institutional racism and refusals of transformation. In sharing his personal journey, he balanced the possibilities of making principled choices with a realistic appraisal of the concurrent need for pragmatism. Specific narratives demonstrated the kinds of dilemmas that arise, without claiming any kind of absolute blueprint for such cases. He stressed that decisions on whether, or how much, to compromise need to be made by individuals in particular moments and contexts. Maneli was very generous in responding to the eager and relevant questions from his audience. I feel certain that his presentation was tremendously beneficial for upcoming artists in attendance.
For me, the one event that marred Power Talks Gqeberha was the panel discussion, which should have been a highlight but came across as a missed opportunity. It was a pity that the poet Lelethu Mahambehlala was not able to participate as planned. As a result of her absence, the participants on stage were all male: host Olwam Mnqwazi with Xolile Madinda (musician and activist) and Mkhonto Gwazela (ceramics artist). Madinda gave an uplifting account of the activities of his community arts centre in Makhanda, the Black Power Station. Despite his and Mnqwazi’s efforts to steer the conversation in more positive directions, however, Gwazela’s tone and statements were out of kilter with the general mood of the day and came across as troublingly patriarchal and sexist. It was also disturbing that such comments were allowed to pass without any overt challenge, although feelings of discomfort were palpable at times and several women walked out. With a view towards future events, perhaps there should be some reflection on the manner in which this panel was handled and how it seemed to shut down, rather than enable, the kind of progressive engagement and debate Power Talks intended to promote.
My overall impression, however, is that Power Talks Gqeberha was an extremely valuable experience – or rather, collection of experiences, since such varied artworks, provocations, and engagements were combined on a single day.
