By: Lethabolaka Gumede
Day 44 of 366
06.00 – 07.00
Waking up in the land of milk and money … lol. Let me get serious.
A little prayer to start the day
Pause for prayer
Deep breath in and out...
The Reimagining Heritage Archives and Museum: Today/Tomorrow convening schedule is packed with an exciting line-up of play through a design thinking workshop in the morning (yaaaay), and a variety of talks that I am excited about, including the curator’s address by Ngaire Blankenberg.
Today includes a part of curating that makes me particularly nervous – networking. Hear me out … as much as I enjoy a good selection of people coming together over conversation and food, when looking for a mentor, I value an intimate setting where both interlocutors can hear and even feel the sacredness of the silence that comes with meeting someone you admire.
However, I soon discovered that besides the traditional selection of breakfast foods served over tea, this convening was far from traditional – in the best ways!
09.00 – 13.00
One thing about me, I am all about solutions. In my past life, I worked as the logistics manager for a commercial gallery representing over 50 artists. My job entailed managing a roster of stakeholders (accountant, framers, transportation team and art handlers) alongside each client and artist. As you can imagine, it was a veeeery stressful time, but I am so grateful for that journey because it prepared me for where I am today as the curator of Tshwane’s inaugural art fair, the Capital Art Fair Tshwane. Can I hear an amen?
As a result, one can appreciate the opportunity to learn new ways to approach putting out the metaphorical fires that come with working behind the scenes in the arts and cultural sector. The Design Thinking workshop released my inner child and was a good reminder that the frontend of logistics is also managed by humans and therefore the solutions need to be equally human-centred. This is nothing we haven’t heard before, said in another way: “umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu” (translation: no man is an island) – a philosophy we can all agree on in theory but fail to deliver on in reality. The truth is, the art ecosystem is still run on predominantly white, Eurocentric principles, and no matter how many non-white artists we put in the spotlight, to quote Gogo Khanyakude “cultural visibility does not translate into epistemic power”. And so aluta continua (the struggle continues)!
14.00 – 16.30
Seeing and hearing Ngaire Blankenberg for the first time live has me fangirling in my seat so hard!! As one of the most contributing cultural workers on the continent, Ngaire Blankenberg did a stellar job moderating a panel titled “Reimagining Museums and Cultural Institutions for a New Era”. With panellists spanning from Robben Island Museum to Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria, this panel brought diverse perspectives about how they each re-imagine the intentions and parameters of their cultural contribution. With this, I couldn’t help but imagine what the real work would look like of transforming cultural institutions into the decolonised, intersectional, African-inspired and governed places we need them to be. I am left feeling that the work has ultimately been left for the next generation of cultural workers who will and have already inherited the institutions and their policies.
18.00 –
To close the day and officially unveil the opening of the RHAM convening, participants and speakers were invited to enjoy delicious nibbles on the run (small plates of food served by waiters) while being treated to a live performance by the music duo uKhoikhoi. Held in the Whale Well room of Iziko South African Museums, the “indigenous electro” sounds were accompanied by praise poetry and an artist who performed a movement piece, embodying the spirit of Nongqawuse.
As I think about this evening reflectively, even though the room we were in felt spacious enough for all the activities that encompassed it; networking, eating, drinking, listening, and watching all at the same time. I couldn’t help but feel slightly overwhelmed by the whole experience. The fact that we were underground networking alongside glass displays of museum objects – that I believe are watching and listening to us too – did not help my claustrophobia. After happily introducing myself to a few important cultural workers from Tshwane, I reconnected with a friend who is a specialist in conservation at the Iziko Museum.
Starting with good old girl talk, then leading to life catch-ups, one of the most humbling moments in a friendship is when you get to a stage where you are applying for the same opportunities and only one gets it. It is as heart-breaking and humanising as any such moment can be. A grim reminder of how small the art industry is. Through this moment, she brought to my attention how Reimagining Heritage, Archives and Museums had created additional opportunities to access the convening through the support of grants. This highlighted the level of consideration that went into the Reimagining Heritage, Archives and Museum programme. It is an honour to have been chosen as one of the mentees, which meant that the logistical aspects of my participation in the convening were taken care of. However, I am even more impressed to be associated with an organisation aware of the challenges to access and which considers practical solutions.
Solving problems such as accommodation, navigating the distance of the accommodation from the main venue, travelling between the various locations, keeping to a schedule, and still making space for people to access the conference through grants. Having met all the teams that put the convening together, I can only salute every one of them for bringing to life this extraordinary gathering of passionate and hardworking cultural workers each making a difference in their respective corners of our shared world.
Day 45 of 366
06.00 – 07.00
Happy Valentine’s Day!! Oh man, I love me some love. In all forms. Romantic, mom-daughter, friend, all of it (the good stuff) helps nourish the soul.
A prayer to start the day
Pause for prayer…
09.00 – 12.00
What a powerful start to the day with a gripping keynote from Molemo Moila, who is an artist, and Director and Head of Research at Andani Africa. More specifically she is the co-founder of Open Restitution Africa, an Africa-led project seeking to open up access to information on the restitution of African material culture and human ancestors, to empower all stakeholders to make knowledge-based decisions. The keynote address was a powerful reminder that the work of reimagining new institutions for Africans begins with the acknowledgement that the process of restitution will leave no society unscathed. This is why it is important to consider the role of museum collections in the global north; collections that house cultural objects that clearly do not belong in glass displays or in underground storage units. My biggest takeaway from this keynote was the reminder that restitution is not simply about returning the physical material culture, it is also about restoring African narratives that have inherited an incomplete or incorrect European provenance.
13h00 – 14h00
Lunchtime began with a short walk from the Homecoming Centre to the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation. We walked into an exhibition titled Truth to Power which was honouring the role of women’s voices during apartheid. This was a welcomed stretch of the legs after sitting in the auditoriums for most of the morning. The lunch was a delicious healthy bowl of brown rice, avo, sauteed onions, black beans, feta and pumpkin. I took this opportunity to get to know one of my fellow mentees, a Libraries and Information Studies graduate from Lesotho. Our conversation was insightful because it shed light on the challenges and opportunities that exist for our fellow neighbours. Their awe-inspiring natural resources include mountains and rivers which provide water to South Africa. However, when I asked about the cultural institutions which could provide employment opportunities for her as a recent graduate, she shook her head in disappointment and began to detail the unfortunate, but all too common problem faced by nearly all African governments: the resistance to providing consistent financial, infrastructural, and social support to the arts and cultural sector. For Lesotho, the consequences look like an inevitable brain drain into South Africa, leaving a country rich with natural minerals but lacking cultural workers to work the land.
It is thanks to private investors such as the French Institute, both in South Africa and Lesotho, that young cultural workers like us have the opportunity to be exposed to what I can only describe as a cultural residency.
16.00 – 17.00
To punctuate the talks programme, one of the offerings for the day was a moving performance by dancer, choreographer and artistic director of Vuyani Dance Theatre, Gregory Maqoma. As a former ballet and contemporary dancer, there is truly no greater feeling than seeing and even feeling the spirit move on stage move inside of you too. To witness Mr Maqoma carry himself with both grace and strength is a privilege I will always be grateful for. Movement, similar to music, speaks across all languages and in a room filled with speakers of more than five different languages, Mr Maqoma left us all feeling connected back to ourselves. Dare I say his performance left us feeling spirit-filled as he transported us into a visual and sonic journey. A journey that can only be described as a rejuvenating return to self.
17.00 – 18.00
It is particularly because of my performance art background that I am invested in understanding the spiritual currency of our heritage. The next talk, appropriately titled “Heritage and Spirit” was the perfect act to follow Mr Maqoma’s performance. Moderated by theatremaker and writer Mwenya Kabwe, the panellists included Gogo Khanyakude who, after a short introduction to the panel, began the conversation with a ritual of honouring the land and inviting the ancestors that have accompanied us all, into the discussion as a sign of respect. He was joined by multi-instrumentalist Azah Mphago; curator of anthropology from the DITSONG: National Museum of Cultural History, Motsane Seabela; member of the South African National Parks and the Department of Archaeology at the University of Pretoria, Dr Ndukuyakhe Ndlovu; and choreographer and Director of the Institute for Creative Arts at the University of Cape Town, Prof. Jay Pather.
An hour will never be enough time to get into the details of each cultural worker’s role and intentions with their work, however, each speaker gave us something to think about and to consider in meaningful ways. It was a necessary reminder that as much as the institutions and techniques used to observe, dissect and research have been inherited, there is no reason why the present and future generations of cultural workers cannot reimagine, remove and reconstruct them into something else. Whether we call it spirit, energy, or intuition, we are all called by an inner force within us to keep creating and advocating for the work that we do in the arts and cultural space. We recognise the importance of taking care of the buildings and cultural objects that we have inherited, but equally recognise the necessity of allowing things to die so that we can make space for new ideas and infrastructure to be born.
I highly recommend that you catch the full talk here!
Day 50 of 366
06.00 – 07.00
It’s always good to be back home. Which makes it even more difficult to wake up in the morning.
A (quick jolting out of bed because you’re so late)
Prayer to start the day!
08.00 – 10.00
As a way to introduce us to the “city of gold”, we began our Johannesburg leg of the mentorship programme with a visit to the Johannesburg Art Gallery. As one of the country’s oldest cultural institutions, the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) has contributed significantly to the arts and cultural narrative of South Africa. Internationally recognised as an institution with historic value because of its involvement in the first Johannesburg Biennale in 1995, JAG has remained an invaluable cultural landmark for both local and visiting patrons. Its participation in the highly acclaimed Africa Remix exhibition in 2007 is still lauded as one of the most attended exhibitions in the gallery.
However, beyond the mission of exhibition-making JAG prides itself in its educational value. The current director, Khwezi Gule, was not shy about speaking to the challenges that are faced by the gallery, however, despite all the negative press, their dedicated staff were still so generous with their time and effort to educate us on their collections. One of their humble brags includes their permanent exhibition that features artworks included in the South African high school visual art curriculum.
This, accompanied by the contemporary artist Dada Khanyisa’s exhibition titled Cape Town, is just two of the ways the JAG remains relevant to South Africa’s art ecosystem today. In collaboration with FNB Art Joburg, the exhibition is a visual representation into the life of a young artist living in Cape Town. Never one to shy away from socio-political commentary, Khanyisa’s artworks are observations, documentation, and celebrations of life for Black people by a Black queer artist. And the best part about this rich, educational, and entertaining cultural institution, is the free admission. So, you have no excuse, we all have the same 24 hours on a Saturday 🙂
11.00 – 14.30
This was followed by a trip to Constitutional Hill, which also includes one of South Africa’s most historic art collections that narrates the different realities of South Africa’s transition into democracy. As we began our tour with the prison cells that housed the inmates, it occurred to me how much of their individual stories were left out to make way for the collective narrative that shaped our transition. As we made our way to the Women’s Jail, the exhibition instantly felt more personal to me. Perhaps it was the display of the maid’s uniform or the glass-caged panty that served as a reminder of the inhumane treatment of women– which in the prison, commanded them to strip naked, down to their underwear. I was suddenly filled with anger at the cruelty of humankind. And even more vexed at the inherited gender-based violence that we have normalised to make South Africa the rape capital of the world.
15.30 – 17.00
After a spectacular selection of food from Food I Love You, my hanger had subsided, and I was in a better place to receive the rest of the day. After love, anger is set to be the most powerful emotion to affect change. Both emotions are complicated and require years of patience which I do not have. However, what was immediately clear to me through both the love and anger I have for this country, was how even as we commemorate 30 of South Africa’s transition into democracy, we are still very far from experiencing the kind of radical change we need from our government, political leaders and fellow civilians. They say “hurt people, hurt people”, and that is exactly what we are seeing where there is a level of dissonance between who people believe they are based on the shared narrative sold by democracy and who we really are shaped by the circumstances of our families and respective environments. Either way, there is a much deeper education and Black consciousness that needs to occur for us to reconcile this disjuncture.
I can only be glad to have been exposed to this Reimagining Heritage, Archives and Museums cultural residency because as much as it reveals the (many) challenges that come with cultural work, it equally highlights the opportunities of service where we can make a difference. Just because the doors of entry are closed, that doesn’t mean we can’t create windows of opportunity for ourselves to make a change. Additionally, change doesn’t have to be monumental, small, consistent effort is all you need to get started. As for reimagining heritage, archives, and museums, I am learning to be okay with the multiple hats that one has to wear, depending on the occasion. Whether it is that of a logistics manager, finance minister or simply an educator, it all comes down to our ability to care for our artists, their artworks and the stories that give life to our cultural institutions. This work may not be the kind of work that saves lives on a daily basis; however, it is the kind of work whose legacy heals generations. And personally, I am happy to be here for as long as my time on this here earth permits.
This story was made possible by the Reimagining Heritage, Archives and Museums: Today/Tomorrow mentorship programme that ran in February 2024, alongside the convening in Cape Town and professional meetings in Johannesburg. Initiated by the French Institute in South Africa and the French Embassy.
Lethabolaka Gumede will be heading to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in April 2024 to participate in the Our Future – Africa-Europe Dialogues forum, an opportunity established through the Reimagining Heritage, Archives and Museums: Today/Tomorrow mentorship programme.
