Diane Victor


Book Description




A Companion to Feminist Art


Book Description

Original essays offering fresh ideas and global perspectives on contemporary feminist art The term ‘feminist art’ is often misused when viewed as a codification within the discipline of Art History—a codification that includes restrictive definitions of geography, chronology, style, materials, influence, and other definitions inherent to Art Historical and museological classifications. Employing a different approach, A Companion to Feminist Art defines ‘art’ as a dynamic set of material and theoretical practices in the realm of culture, and ‘feminism’ as an equally dynamic set of activist and theoretical practices in the realm of politics. Feminist art, therefore, is not a simple classification of a type of art, but rather the space where feminist politics and the domain of art-making intersect. The Companion provides readers with an overview of the developments, concepts, trends, influences, and activities within the space of contemporary feminist art—in different locations, ways of making, and ways of thinking. Newly-commissioned essays focus on the recent history of and current discussions within feminist art. Diverse in scope and style, these contributions range from essays on the questions and challenges of large sectors of artists, such as configurations of feminism and gender in post-Cold War Europe, to more focused conversations with women artists on Afropean decoloniality. Ranging from discussions of essentialism and feminist aesthetics to examinations of political activism and curatorial practice, the Companion informs and questions readers, introduces new concepts and fresh perspectives, and illustrates just how much more there is to discover within the realm of feminist art. Addresses the intersection between feminist thinking and major theories that have influenced art theory Incorporates diverse voices from around the world to offer viewpoints on global feminisms from scholars who live and work in the regions about which they write Examines how feminist art intersects with considerations of collectivity, war, maternal relationships, desire, men, and relational aesthetics Explores the myriad ways in which the experience of inhabiting and perceiving aged, raced, and gendered bodies relates to feminist politics in the art world Discusses a range practices in feminism such as activism, language, education, and different ways of making art The intersection of feminist art-making and feminist politics are not merely components of a unified whole, they sometimes diverge and divide. A Companion to Feminist Art is an indispensable resource for artists, critics, scholars, curators, and anyone seeking greater strength on the subject through informed critique and debate.




My Pal, Victor


Book Description

Two Latino boys experience carefree camaraderie despite one boy's disability, as fun and friendship overpower physical limitations.




Impossible Mourning


Book Description

Impossible Mourning argues that while the HIV/AIDS epidemic has figured largely in public discourse in South Africa over the last ten years, particularly in debates about governance and constitutional rights post-apartheid, the experiences of people living with HIV for the most part remain invisible and the multiple losses due to AIDS have gone publicly unmourned. This profound fact is at the center of this book which explores the significance of the disavowal of AIDS-death in relation to violence, death, and mourning under apartheid. Impossible Mourning shows how in spite of the magnitude of the epidemic and as a result of the stigma and discrimination that has largely characterized both national and personal responses to the epidemic, spaces for the expression of collective mourning have been few. This book engages with multiple forms of visual representation that work variously to compound, undo, and complicate the politics of loss. Drawing on work Thomas did in art and narrative support groups while working with people living with HIV/AIDS in Khayelitsha, a township outside of the city of Cape Town this book also includes analyses of the work of South African visual artists and photographers Jane Alexander, Gille de Vlieg, Jillian Edelstein, Pieter Hugo, Ezrom Legae, Gideon Mendel, Zanele Muholi, Sam Nhlengethwa, Paul Stopforth, and Diane Victor.




Taking a Hard Look


Book Description

It is the aim of this edited volume to take a hard look at gender and visual culture. Gender and visual culture traverse in quite unique and often fascinating ways. On the one hand, gender functions as an interdisciplinary approach and critical tool to analyse and investigate several subject fields. As such, gender contributes to establishing a much-needed theoretical and functional platform spanning across many fields of enquiry from where gender practices can effectively be critiqued and ideally changed. On the other hand, the growing popularity and ubiquity of visual culture in a global context create the increasing need to reflect on and interrogate this phenomenon in an academic manner. Although Visual Culture Studies is an established subject at many Northern institutions, it is fairly new and relatively under-theorised in the South. In response to the growing need to investigate issues dealing with gender and visual culture and particularly how they creatively intersect, this selection of chapters (first presented as papers at the Taking a Hard Look: Gender and Visual Culture international conference, 20-21 June 2007, Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies, University of Pretoria, South Africa) are collected here in the hope to make a purposeful contribution to the burgeoning discourse. However, by addressing the creative intersection between gender and visual culture this edited volume is no novelty. In fact, the topic of gender and visual culture has been addressed over the past decade in several edited volumes. It is in this proud tradition that this book aims to take its place and to create a dialogue with international theory on gender and visual culture studies from a South perspective. Key questions that are explored in the volume: What type of gendered visual culture is being presented and created in the South particularly (but not exclusively)? How is visual culture gendered? Can one refer to a move beyond gender in terms of a trans-gendered visual culture or are we still caught up in the same debilitating role models? How does one address the ever-increasing alienation between gender studies and the younger generation of students and scholars moving into higher education? What is the role of gender as interdisciplinary tool in the academic analysis of visual culture as it spans across several subjects, such as science, social work, technology, psychology, medicine, philosophy, sociology, engineering, communication, economics, religious studies, business management, anthropology, geography, historical studies, cultural and media studies, visual studies, art history and literature studies?




Visualising China in Southern Africa


Book Description

China and Africa have long shared a history of allegiance and contact points through global political forces from the time of colonialism and the Cold War. With China’s rise as the new superpower, its presence in Africa has expanded, leading to significant economic, geopolitical and cultural shifts. While issues such as trade, aid and development have received much attention, Chinese and African encounters through the lens of the visual arts and material culture is a neglected field. Visualising China in Southern Africa: Biography, Circulation, Transgression is a ground-breaking volume that addresses this deficit through engaging with the work of contemporary African and Chinese artists while analysing broader material production that prefigures the current relationship. The essays are wide-ranging in their analysis of ceramics, photography, painting, etching, sculpture, film, performance, postcards, stamps, installations, political posters, cartoons and architecture. Visualising China in Southern Africa confines its focus to southern Africa, yet even within this region, the context is complex. Ethnicity and nationalism, the lingering influence of Cold War allegiances and colonial configurations all continue to play a role. The various visual cultures discussed in this volume emphasise the commonality of these categories, but also point towards other shared histories that transcend the nation-state category. The collection includes scholarly chapters, photo essays, interviews, and artists’ personal accounts, organised around four themes: material flows, orientations and transgressions, spatial imaginaries, and biographies. The artists, photographers, filmmakers, curators and collectors in this volume include: Stary Mwaba, Hua Jiming, Anawana Haloba, Gerald Machona, Nobukho Nqaba, Marcus Neustetter, Brett Murray, Diane Victor, William Kentridge, Kristin NG-Yang, Kok Nam, Mark Lewis, the Chinese Camera Club of South Africa, Wu Jing, Henion Han and Shengkai Wu.




Religion and Contemporary Art


Book Description

Religion and Contemporary Art sets the theoretical frameworks and interpretive strategies for exploring the re-emergence of religion in the making, exhibiting, and discussion of contemporary art. Featuring essays from both established and emerging scholars, critics, and artists, the book reflects on what might be termed an "accord" between contemporary art and religion. It explores the common strategies contemporary artists employ in the interface between religion and contemporary art practice. It also includes case studies to provide more in-depth treatments of specific artists grappling with themes such as ritual, abstraction, mythology, the body, popular culture, science, liturgy, and social justice, among other themes. It is a must-read resource for working artists, critics, and scholars in this field, and an invitation to new voices "curious" about its promises and possibilities.




Picturing Change


Book Description

An in-depth look at the evolving ethos of curating and collecting art at South African universities. In Picturing Change, Brenda Schmahmann explores the implications of deploying the visual domain in the service of transformative agendas and unpacks the complexities, contradictions and slippages involved in this process. She shows that although most new commissions have been innovative, some universities have acquired works with potentially traditionalist - even backward-looking - implications. While the motives behind removing inherited imagery may be underpinned by a desire to unsettle white privilege, in some cases such actions can also serve to maintain the status quo. This book is unique in exploring the transformative ethos evident in the curation of visual culture at South African universities. It will be invaluable to readers interested in public art, the politics of curating and collecting, as well as to those involved in transforming tertiary and other public institutions into spaces that welcome diversity. Since South Africa's transition to democracy, many universities have acquired new works of art that convey messages about the advantages of cultural diversity, and engage critically with histories of racial intolerance and conflict. Given concerns about the influence of British imperialism or Afrikaner nationalism on aspects of their inherited visual culture, most tertiary institutions are also seeking new ways to manage their existing art collections, and to introduce memorials, insignia or regalia, which reflect the universities' newfound values and aspirations.




Disasters of Peace Part 2: A student perspective - PULP FICTIONS No.7


Book Description

Disasters of Peace Part 2: A student perspective - PULP FICTIONS No.7 Edited by Karin van Marle 2011 ISSN: 1992-5174 Pages: 40 Print version: Available Electronic version: Free PDF available About the publication In this edition of Pulp fictions two law students reflect on the issues taken up in the first edition of Pulp fictions in 2005. Joel Modiri and Emile Zitzke (both second years in 2011), after reading the dialogue between Heyns and Van Marle last year as first year students coming into the faculty of law were prompted to revisit some of the issues raised. Heyns and Van Marle’s dialogue was in response to a decision of the Centre for Human Rights not to display a group of etchings by Diane Victor from her Disasters of Peace series in their offices and a subsequent decision of the University’s management, taken after the group of etchings had been moved to the Department of Public Law, to remove two of the etchings that were found to be most offensive by a group of complainants including the then principal of the University, Prof Calie Pistorius. Six years after the removal of these art works Modiri and Zitzke bring fresh perspectives to the debate. Added to this edition also is a musing by Prof Christof Heyns. The original idea with Pulp fictions was to open spaces for discussion, dialogue and dissent and opportunity for creativity, experimentation and reimaginings. Over the past 6 years, colleagues from the UP Faculty of Law; from other faculties in UP; and from other universities have participated, as have a judge of the Constitutional Court and an attorney. This is the first edition in which students have entered these spaces. We welcome this expansion and reiterate previous calls for more participation from the UP academic community and beyond. About the Editor: Karin van Marle is a Professor at the Department of Legal History, Comparitive Law and Jurisprudence, at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria




Critical Mass


Book Description

This exciting new book showcases the work of a very diverse selectionof 52 artists from 28 countries, against a spectrum of the concernsthat inform the role and function of art in the increasinglytechnological global society. The mediums used by these artists rangefrom new variations on traditional intaglio and relief techniques, toextreme forms of digital techniques, including time-based forms such asfilm and multi-media presentation. Printmaking continues to evolve asartists develop the traditionaltechniques and experiment with new techniques and materials. In recentyears the boundaries between the once distinct fields of the visualarts have become blurred, and growing numbers of artists nowincorporate printmaking techniques within their practice. This bookprovides a broad-ranging and challenging source of information on themost exciting cutting edge developments in international printmaking,which will be of value to students, professional artists and all thosewith an interest in the contemporary visual arts