by Anne-Britt Rage
This project was shown at the Art museum in Drammen, Norway during Kunst rett Vest
The performance "South Africa: Holding onto ubuntu" addresses
solidarity with the anti-apartheid struggle, the experience of
corruption and the experience of a traumatized country.
It tells about the work of Revolution for Sale, about the liberation
hero Chris Hani, who was killed right outside his home at the
beginning of a free South Africa.
It tells the story of a white woman who had just given birth, who
is caught in corruption and threatened to be deprived of her
child. It is a story from a white woman's perspective about her
encounter with Western South Africa and about her love to this
country.
The artist strives to move freely between a micro and macro
perspective. She reflects on the white woman's possibilities to
manouvre, role as victim and personal tragedy. This all within
reference to a post-apartheid South Africa and with references
to the colonial era.
Rage's performance lies in the intersection between critical
whiteness theory, personal narrative and academic analysis
with empasis on colonialism and the present South Africa.
Anne-Britt Rage uses video and sound to build a background
for her story. She performs in Norwegian and English.
The performance is based on the artist's experience through her stay in Cape Town and her studies at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, from January 2009 to November 2011.
Length: 40 minutes
Anne-Britt Rage is a socially-engaged political scientist and concept artist with background from the research institute PRIO, Stellenbosch University of South Africa and the State Art Norwegian National Academy of Arts. She has worked many years abroad in Germany (Berlin), Spain (Barcelona), France (Marseille), Russia (St. Petersburg / Kronstadt) and South Africa (Cape Town / Stellenbosch) where she has initiated projects with the main emphasis on migration, xenophobia and feminism.
Contact: ragerock@hotmail.com
