Tatenda Chidora: If Covid Was a Colour
Tatenda Chidora is a South African based photographer, whose latest exhibition,
If Covid Was a Colour is currently showing at the
Bkhz gallery in Rosebank. A Tshwane University alumni, his style of photography has been described as being representative of the new wave of African photography. Chidora describes the everyday as being an inspiration that he translates through his pictures.
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Well versed in diverse genres of photography, he floats between documentary, portraiture and fashion photography with artistic precision that brings life and meaning to his pictures.
If Covid Was a Colour is a series of striking images that feature models draped in some of the most prolific symbols of the virus; gloves and masks. “My hope is that my photographs will help to describe how the world has been living these past 14 months,” he told
worldphoto.org.
His artist’s
catalogue describes the pictures as” having crisp outlines, which give them a tense, glossy feeling, like a tightly set mosaic.”
Bkhz was established by lauded artist Banele Khoza in 2018. He describes the studio as “a space for creativity, driven and led by expression.” Located at the ever-so-hip Keyes Avenue in Rosebank, the space also serves as a platform for talks with the focus being to “create a dialogue between art and design.” The studio has played host to shows from some of SA’s up and coming and established artists such as Talia Ramkilawan, Lunga Ntila and Nkhensani Mkhari.
The exhibition runs until December 6.
Group Exhibition: It Means Bitch
Kutti Collective is an arts collective made up of nine artists of Indian descent from around South Africa. They are multi-disciplinary artists who came together to “mediate our art and identities; and support one another on a personal level as well as in our respective artistic practices.”
Established in 2019, The group works hard at showing a side to Indian people that isn’t widely visible; that of artists.
“I rarely see Desi (people of Indian descent) artists thriving in the South African art world, and I often notice that Desi creatives are mostly involved behind the scenes; handling the admin and numbers. I find this a tiny bit problematic,” member Akshar Maganbeharie, told
Design Indaba.
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The collective has also subverted the meaning of the derogatory word “Kutti” by reclaiming it as their own.
In Hindi and Punjabi slang, the word means bitch.
“By using the term 'kutti' — a word that was originally used to shame and vilify ‘us’ — this projected shaming related to our ‘insufficiency’ is now being adopted, and a subverting of its meaning allows us to reclaim our agency and identities, they say in their artist manifesto.
The group’s latest exhibition,
It Means Bitch, opened on November 6 at
P72 Projects in Parkhurst. With this group exhibition they hope to “explore and explode stereotypes of queerness, Indianness and otherness.” The group also notes it will be the first time they present their work together in physical form.
P72 Projects or P72ps is a multi-discipline and multi-function space located in Parkhurst. It is co-directed by the founders of
Kalashnicov Gallery, in Braamfotein. P72 Projects describes itself as “creating an environment where young, first-time and seasoned collectors can find works at lower than primary market price points.”
Written by Sthembile Gasa
