What is this all about?
We asked artists what knowledge means to them, in their own communities and contexts. The “What is Knowledge?” exhibition is an exploration of this question from multiple perspectives, with a particular focus on artists from marginalized communities.This art exhibition is brought to you by Whose Knowledge?.Enjoy your visit!
Anya RamparsadBisephenol A, 2018
Drawing on Rosapina cotton paper using thermal paper and a 9V battery (CC BY-SA 4.0).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Born in Ladysmith, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Anya Ramparsad moved to Cape Town to attend the University of Cape Town’s Michaelis school of Fine Art where she obtained her honours degree majoring in printmaking and photography. Her work is best recognized by the blending of artistic practice and scientific practice around the themes of knowledge and knowledge production. ‘Having lived experience of going through a system where my needs as an artist were not catered for, I felt the gap that existed in my learning due to never having an art education before university.’ She interrogates the education system by combining disciplines and decentering intellectual barriers using process based practice to create innovative mark making techniques. Science here is used as a tool to make art and explores the themes of alternative ways of learning.
ABOUT THIS PIECE In this piece I attempt to redefine our conceptions and mechanisms of ways of learning. I create embodied learning through process based practice by combining scientific experiment and creative experiment. By using the laws of physics to create images and processes to capture a trace of such a phenomenon, it investigates the tools we use in science and art, and the relationship between these two disciplines to interrogate knowledge. The word ‘tension’ here refers to not only the basic elemental properties of physics but also cognitive dissonance, an internal, abstracted tension. Bisephenol A refers to the reactant acid in thermal paper used on rosapina cotton paper. Through understanding tension in an abstract form I am able to capture the phenomenon in the form of thermal mapping and chemistry through the reaction of a 9V battery, steel wool. The schooling system does not cater for students who are both logically and creatively inclined therefore transformation needs to take place. In promoting critical thinking skills and alternate ways of learning by blurring disciplines through art experience, we can begin to enrich society by producing whole beings that are able to utilise a vast array of skills breeding innovation. In my approach to decentre the scientific language and in the act of breaking down intellectual barriers I attempt to redefine science using art strategy making it accessible to a wider assortment of scholars enriching the understanding of both disciplines.
Collagistas Sin FronterasPetit Larousse, or The Blind Men and the Brontosaurus, 2018
Digital collage (CC BY-SA 4.0).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Collagistas Sin Fronteras (Collagists Without Borders) is a collective of Latin American collage artists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. They know each other personally, but their meeting point is the net of collage without borders based on the Internet. The artists work with analog, digital and mixed media techniques. They are compulsive seekers and image collectors, which they cut, paste and assemble in different ways. As a collective, they organize collage exhibitions, mail art projects, talks and workshops.
ABOUT THIS PIECE This is a collaborative work by Yamandú Cuevas, Julia Cuevas, Marta Villa, Mariana Fossatti, Mauricio Planel and Marcia Albuquerque. The work traveled online between Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Playa Verde and Solymar (Uruguay). It was made using analogue and digital techniques. As collagists, we work with preexisting material extracted from diverse sources, like encyclopedias, dictionaries, popular magazines and illustrated reference works. It is a fascinating material to work with, but specially interesting for this exhibition, because it allows us to play with the traditional senses about what knowledge is and how it is represented, modifying the classic narratives that have been used to transmit it, in different times and contexts. Our main source of images was a Larousse dictionary in Spanish, from 1985. Like every dictionary, it follows an alphabetical order, but such order is at the same time a disorder. When turning the pages we see countries, machines, animals, plants, symbols and maps mixed in a fascinating chaos. It's like a great collage. This work is also a reference to the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Different parts of the body of a brontosaurus (instead of an elephant) appear in each collage: the head, the trunk and the tail. In the same way that the blind men do, we perceive different parts of an unknown animal. Then it is necessary to share our individual perceptions in order to reach an agreement about what that animal is. And like the blind men in the parable, we tried, although a single interpretation will never be possible.
Collagistas Sin FronterasPetit Larousse, or The Blind Men and the Brontosaurus, 2018
Digital collage (CC BY-SA 4.0).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Collagistas Sin Fronteras (Collagists Without Borders) is a collective of Latin American collage artists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. They know each other personally, but their meeting point is the net of collage without borders based on the Internet. The artists work with analog, digital and mixed media techniques. They are compulsive seekers and image collectors, which they cut, paste and assemble in different ways. As a collective, they organize collage exhibitions, mail art projects, talks and workshops.
ABOUT THIS PIECE This is a collaborative work by Yamandú Cuevas, Julia Cuevas, Marta Villa, Mariana Fossatti, Mauricio Planel and Marcia Albuquerque. The work traveled online between Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Playa Verde and Solymar (Uruguay). It was made using analogue and digital techniques. As collagists, we work with preexisting material extracted from diverse sources, like encyclopedias, dictionaries, popular magazines and illustrated reference works. It is a fascinating material to work with, but specially interesting for this exhibition, because it allows us to play with the traditional senses about what knowledge is and how it is represented, modifying the classic narratives that have been used to transmit it, in different times and contexts. Our main source of images was a Larousse dictionary in Spanish, from 1985. Like every dictionary, it follows an alphabetical order, but such order is at the same time a disorder. When turning the pages we see countries, machines, animals, plants, symbols and maps mixed in a fascinating chaos. It's like a great collage. This work is also a reference to the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Different parts of the body of a brontosaurus (instead of an elephant) appear in each collage: the head, the trunk and the tail. In the same way that the blind men do, we perceive different parts of an unknown animal. Then it is necessary to share our individual perceptions in order to reach an agreement about what that animal is. And like the blind men in the parable, we tried, although a single interpretation will never be possible.
Collagistas Sin FronterasPetit Larousse, or The Blind Men and the Brontosaurus, 2018
Digital collage (CC BY-SA 4.0).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Collagistas Sin Fronteras (Collagists Without Borders) is a collective of Latin American collage artists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. They know each other personally, but their meeting point is the net of collage without borders based on the Internet. The artists work with analog, digital and mixed media techniques. They are compulsive seekers and image collectors, which they cut, paste and assemble in different ways. As a collective, they organize collage exhibitions, mail art projects, talks and workshops.
ABOUT THIS PIECE This is a collaborative work by Yamandú Cuevas, Julia Cuevas, Marta Villa, Mariana Fossatti, Mauricio Planel and Marcia Albuquerque. The work traveled online between Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Playa Verde and Solymar (Uruguay). It was made using analogue and digital techniques. As collagists, we work with preexisting material extracted from diverse sources, like encyclopedias, dictionaries, popular magazines and illustrated reference works. It is a fascinating material to work with, but specially interesting for this exhibition, because it allows us to play with the traditional senses about what knowledge is and how it is represented, modifying the classic narratives that have been used to transmit it, in different times and contexts. Our main source of images was a Larousse dictionary in Spanish, from 1985. Like every dictionary, it follows an alphabetical order, but such order is at the same time a disorder. When turning the pages we see countries, machines, animals, plants, symbols and maps mixed in a fascinating chaos. It's like a great collage. This work is also a reference to the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Different parts of the body of a brontosaurus (instead of an elephant) appear in each collage: the head, the trunk and the tail. In the same way that the blind men do, we perceive different parts of an unknown animal. Then it is necessary to share our individual perceptions in order to reach an agreement about what that animal is. And like the blind men in the parable, we tried, although a single interpretation will never be possible.
Kgaugelo RakgwaleBi The Way, 2018
Digital Photo-Art (CC BY-SA 4.0).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR I am a Johannesburg-based self-taught photo-artist with an above average fervor for photography and film. I revere black and white photography, a medium I fell in love with when I was around 6/7, I just didn’t know it yet. My photographic approach is hugely influenced by the experience of occupying not so great spaces, a creative objective enthused by the urge to explore the frustration that results from attempting to find stillness in spaces that don't foster this state. Photography has assisted me in appreciating the significance of digital media, which is one of the most easily accessed forms of escapism, making it an incredibly influential and possibly life-changing form of media. This notion leads me to imagine the prospect of a positively impacted society, should this tool be used well. That is where I believe I can contribute actively, by creating empowering content, centred around youth and presented in the most authentic and current context conceivable.
ABOUT THIS PIECE Knowledge is a puzzle that has been put together for centuries through spoken words, scripts, theories and imagery. This knowledge we have acquired from years of experiential learning can become dull and unrelatable to an individual who has been left out of societal structures and norms. Knowledge is knowing yourself and identifying as a single part to a bigger picture rather than a small piece to a puzzle. As a man who identifies as Bi-sexual I represent both a masculine and femme personality to an observer, initially, leaving a question mark about my sexuality. In the following photo series, I show how clothes associated with cis-gender men fail to disguise my bi-sexuality. Credits: Photographer - Kgaugelo Rakgwale Creative direction - Kgaugelo Rakgwale Styling - Siyababa Designers - Thabo Kopele, Savon and Siyababa
Kgaugelo RakgwaleBi The Way, 2018
Digital Photo-Art (CC BY-SA 4.0).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR I am a Johannesburg-based self-taught photo-artist with an above average fervor for photography and film. I revere black and white photography, a medium I fell in love with when I was around 6/7, I just didn’t know it yet. My photographic approach is hugely influenced by the experience of occupying not so great spaces, a creative objective enthused by the urge to explore the frustration that results from attempting to find stillness in spaces that don't foster this state. Photography has assisted me in appreciating the significance of digital media, which is one of the most easily accessed forms of escapism, making it an incredibly influential and possibly life-changing form of media. This notion leads me to imagine the prospect of a positively impacted society, should this tool be used well. That is where I believe I can contribute actively, by creating empowering content, centred around youth and presented in the most authentic and current context conceivable.
ABOUT THIS PIECE Knowledge is a puzzle that has been put together for centuries through spoken words, scripts, theories and imagery. This knowledge we have acquired from years of experiential learning can become dull and unrelatable to an individual who has been left out of societal structures and norms. Knowledge is knowing yourself and identifying as a single part to a bigger picture rather than a small piece to a puzzle. As a man who identifies as Bi-sexual I represent both a masculine and femme personality to an observer, initially, leaving a question mark about my sexuality. In the following photo series, I show how clothes associated with cis-gender men fail to disguise my bi-sexuality. Credits: Photographer - Kgaugelo Rakgwale Creative direction - Kgaugelo Rakgwale Styling - Siyababa Designers - Thabo Kopele, Savon and Siyababa
Kgaugelo RakgwaleBi The Way, 2018
Digital Photo-Art (CC BY-SA 4.0).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR I am a Johannesburg-based self-taught photo-artist with an above average fervor for photography and film. I revere black and white photography, a medium I fell in love with when I was around 6/7, I just didn’t know it yet. My photographic approach is hugely influenced by the experience of occupying not so great spaces, a creative objective enthused by the urge to explore the frustration that results from attempting to find stillness in spaces that don't foster this state. Photography has assisted me in appreciating the significance of digital media, which is one of the most easily accessed forms of escapism, making it an incredibly influential and possibly life-changing form of media. This notion leads me to imagine the prospect of a positively impacted society, should this tool be used well. That is where I believe I can contribute actively, by creating empowering content, centred around youth and presented in the most authentic and current context conceivable.
ABOUT THIS PIECE Knowledge is a puzzle that has been put together for centuries through spoken words, scripts, theories and imagery. This knowledge we have acquired from years of experiential learning can become dull and unrelatable to an individual who has been left out of societal structures and norms. Knowledge is knowing yourself and identifying as a single part to a bigger picture rather than a small piece to a puzzle. As a man who identifies as Bi-sexual I represent both a masculine and femme personality to an observer, initially, leaving a question mark about my sexuality. In the following photo series, I show how clothes associated with cis-gender men fail to disguise my bi-sexuality. Credits:: Photographer - Kgaugelo Rakgwale Creative direction - Kgaugelo Rakgwale Styling - Siyababa Designers - Thabo Kopele, Savon and Siyababa
Lunga KamaUmsindo/Rage diptych, 2017
Photographs (CC BY-SA 4.0).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR My name is Lunga Kama I am a young Xhosa visual artist that makes use of the camera to investigate the questions surrounding my masculinity. I seek to create a positive representation of my sexuality and identity through making images that are an imaginative representation of my sexuality. I investigate masculinity through portraits that look to challenge and reassert a positive self-esteem. I am not defined by my physical attributes such as skin colour but by my cultural heritage. I am a South African and I love the traditions and cultural practices that have influenced and shaped my upbringing. In the portraits that I have submitted for the exhibition I seek to transform and address the representation of the black body through photography. This will take shape through imaginative representation of my images of the black body.
ABOUT THIS PIECE My name is Lunga Kama and my work qhayiya/proud is inspired by my culture as a young Xhosa man. The work itself looks at issues of gender and sexuality. The reason is that I felt the need to create a platform to discuss issues of sexuality and gender identity. The aim is to put focus on the idea of self-love and having positive self-esteem. I want to make other young African youths take pride in their self-identity, culture and own body. I believe self-love is a starting point to having positive self-esteem and taking pride in your own body and having the confidence to expose yourself to public scrutiny shows other young youths that black love is real and beautiful. The work consists of self-portraits that are taken outside a studio and the artist in this instance becomes the subject and the photographer. The black and white images are titled qhayiya/proud and they look at how the black body has been put under scrutiny of the camera. The aim is to subvert the stereotypical representation of the black subject as the savage and wild man. My work and my practices are inspired by my culture and influences that shape the way I see things, and react to influences that shape my surroundings. I aim to support the idea of black love and make the viewer embrace who they are and where they come from no matter the circumstances.
Lunga KamaUmsindo/Rage diptych, 2017
Photographs (CC BY-SA 4.0).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR My name is Lunga Kama I am a young Xhosa visual artist that makes use of the camera to investigate the questions surrounding my masculinity. I seek to create a positive representation of my sexuality and identity through making images that are an imaginative representation of my sexuality. I investigate masculinity through portraits that look to challenge and reassert a positive self-esteem. I am not defined by my physical attributes such as skin colour but by my cultural heritage. I am a South African and I love the traditions and cultural practices that have influenced and shaped my upbringing. In the portraits that I have submitted for the exhibition I seek to transform and address the representation of the black body through photography. This will take shape through imaginative representation of my images of the black body.
ABOUT THIS PIECE My name is Lunga Kama and my work qhayiya/proud is inspired by my culture as a young Xhosa man. The work itself looks at issues of gender and sexuality. The reason is that I felt the need to create a platform to discuss issues of sexuality and gender identity. The aim is to put focus on the idea of self-love and having positive self-esteem. I want to make other young African youths take pride in their self-identity, culture and own body. I believe self-love is a starting point to having positive self-esteem and taking pride in your own body and having the confidence to expose yourself to public scrutiny shows other young youths that black love is real and beautiful. The work consists of self-portraits that are taken outside a studio and the artist in this instance becomes the subject and the photographer. The black and white images are titled qhayiya/proud and they look at how the black body has been put under scrutiny of the camera. The aim is to subvert the stereotypical representation of the black subject as the savage and wild man. My work and my practices are inspired by my culture and influences that shape the way I see things, and react to influences that shape my surroundings. I aim to support the idea of black love and make the viewer embrace who they are and where they come from no matter the circumstances.
Manuel Beltrán.Speculative Capital, 2016
Photograph (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Manuel Beltrán is an artist, activist, and researcher. His artworks and projects have been widely presented in Europe and abroad. He researches and lectures on contemporary art, activism, social movements, post-digital culture and new media. Manuel was involved in the Indignados movement in Spain, the Gezi Park protests in Turkey and several forms of independent activism and cyber-activism. He co-founded the collective Plastic Crowds (2012) and the Alternative Learning Tank (2013). In 2016, Manuel founded the Institute of Human Obsolescence that explores the future of labour and the socio- political implications regarding society’s relationship with technology.
ABOUT THIS PIECE We are being replaced by machines. What happened to horses after the invention of the steam engine, is now happening to us. Soon our manual labour will no longer be needed and with the advance of artificial intelligence, intellectual labour will be replaced by machines as well. The Institute of Human Obsolescence explores this scenario and tries to ask questions on how to re-position the role of humans by developing and challenging existing and new relationships between human and machine and new dynamics of creation of value in a post-work scenario. In this installation we hire human workers to wear a bodysuit that harvests their residual body heat to produce electricity that then is fed into a microcomputer producing cryptocurrency. The workers receive the 80% of the production while the Institute receives the remaining 20%. With this new form of work we aim at questioning the possible consequences of the combination of invasive technologies with the lack of jobs to be performed by humans.
Mona CliffA'aninin (generational knowledge series), 2018
Acrylic painting on paper (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ramona Cliff was born in Prescott, AZ and raised in Portland, OR. As an enrolled member of the A’aninin (White Clay people), Assinaboine tribe as well as Polish and German heritage, she uses traditional indigenous techniques in conjunction with contemporary images. Ramona explores the subject of identity, culture, and mixed heritage. Ramona acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. During that time she used photoetching and collage to explore issues of native identity in contemporary America, by using humor to address stereotypical ideas of native people and identity. After graduating Ramona turned to traditional native methods as a way of further understanding the connection of indigenous identity. She learned bead embroidery and sewing from her grandmother. Honoring native culture, she creates contemporary native regalia utilizing her beadwork skills. Her beadwork has been commissioned by numerous people across the United States. She has continued to work on her art combining contemporary subject matters with indigenous methods of crafting. Ramona is married and has 3 children ages 10, 8, and 7 years old. She focuses on how traditional arts are passed down between generations of women, thus influencing culture. Ramona is an active member of the Native community, she participates in ceremonial activities and is serving as a community board advisor for the upcoming show 30 Americans at the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, MO.
ABOUT THIS PIECE My art is rooted in my A’aninin and Eastern European heritage. I explore the concept of woman as gatekeepers of cultural knowledge, how this knowledge forms personal identity, and is passed down generationally creating traditions. In this series “Generational Knowledge” my aim is to honor what has been labeled “woman’s work”. I am looking towards the mediums and conduits of craft, how indigenous cultures thrive and are created in the quiet corners of a home. I use the image of the womb as a visual vessel into the exploration of generational knowledge. This series is especially close to me because of the traditional knowledge that was passed down to me and the strong connection I have to my ancestors when I create traditional items. I was taught Native American techniques of creating by my grandmother, I am also a teacher of generational knowledge. I am working to honor the connection between generations of women, and the power woman have in shaping society. I want to honor how woman’s creative efforts form identity and how these insights form our understanding of our place on this earth. Our collective knowledge is created by the hands of woman. My knowledge is not my own, I am only a steward of these ways, and I am keenly aware of how I pass this knowledge on to my children, and how this knowledge forms their sense of identity through my teachings.
Mona CliffA'aninin (generational knowledge series), 2018
Acrylic painting on paper (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ramona Cliff was born in Prescott, AZ and raised in Portland, OR. As an enrolled member of the A’aninin (White Clay people), Assinaboine tribe as well as Polish and German heritage, she uses traditional indigenous techniques in conjunction with contemporary images. Ramona explores the subject of identity, culture, and mixed heritage. Ramona acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. During that time she used photoetching and collage to explore issues of native identity in contemporary America, by using humor to address stereotypical ideas of native people and identity. After graduating Ramona turned to traditional native methods as a way of further understanding the connection of indigenous identity. She learned bead embroidery and sewing from her grandmother. Honoring native culture, she creates contemporary native regalia utilizing her beadwork skills. Her beadwork has been commissioned by numerous people across the United States. She has continued to work on her art combining contemporary subject matters with indigenous methods of crafting. Ramona is married and has 3 children ages 10, 8, and 7 years old. She focuses on how traditional arts are passed down between generations of women, thus influencing culture. Ramona is an active member of the Native community, she participates in ceremonial activities and is serving as a community board advisor for the upcoming show 30 Americans at the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, MO.
ABOUT THIS PIECE My art is rooted in my A’aninin and Eastern European heritage. I explore the concept of woman as gatekeepers of cultural knowledge, how this knowledge forms personal identity, and is passed down generationally creating traditions. In this series “Generational Knowledge” my aim is to honor what has been labeled “woman’s work”. I am looking towards the mediums and conduits of craft, how indigenous cultures thrive and are created in the quiet corners of a home. I use the image of the womb as a visual vessel into the exploration of generational knowledge. This series is especially close to me because of the traditional knowledge that was passed down to me and the strong connection I have to my ancestors when I create traditional items. I was taught Native American techniques of creating by my grandmother, I am also a teacher of generational knowledge. I am working to honor the connection between generations of women, and the power woman have in shaping society. I want to honor how woman’s creative efforts form identity and how these insights form our understanding of our place on this earth. Our collective knowledge is created by the hands of woman. My knowledge is not my own, I am only a steward of these ways, and I am keenly aware of how I pass this knowledge on to my children, and how this knowledge forms their sense of identity through my teachings.
Sanya SantamiSilence Please, 2018
Photograph, Tecco PM230 Matt, assembled into Mobius strip (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sanya Samtani was born in Bangalore, India. She completed her undergraduate law degree at NALSAR, Hyderabad. It was here that she found words and frameworks to articulate her feminism that had (until then) been expressed through emotive responses and frustrations with the patriarchy. Having spent much of her life (photocopying) in libraries and around books, she has always been interested in knowledge generation and the politics that surround it. After completing the BCL (2016) on the Rhodes Scholarship, her current project is a DPhil in Law, at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, based at the University of Oxford. Her thesis articulates a right of access to educational materials, and lies at the intersection of the right to education and copyright exceptions in international law, as well as case studies in India and South Africa. She has been a tutor both at NALSAR (constitutional law and public international law 2014-15) and most recently at Oxford (public international law 2017-18), where she has attempted to understand and practice Freire's critical pedagogy. Her aim is to use art, photography, and law to imagine and construct a world where knowledge is boundless and accessible to all regardless of socio-economic conditions. Her photography is self-taught, and she uses it to tell stories. She is presently in Johannesburg, clerking for Justice Mhlantla at the South African Constitutional Court and doing field work for her thesis.
ABOUT THIS PIECE Knowledge production processes in the global North are portrayed as a single möbius strip – continuous, infinite, and exclusionary. The portrait images depict ten closed doors enclosing the main quadrangle of the historical Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford. Closed doors are a metaphor for the inaccessibility of this scholarship to everyone except for those who have the key, or are already behind these doors. Each door bears a Latin inscription of an academic discipline from Ancient Greek and medicine, to law and linguistics. This is punctuated by the only landscape image in the series – the “Silence Please” sign at the centre of the same quadrangle. The sign imposes silence: silence about the global North’s colonial claim to the shape, form, and construct of “authoritative” knowledge. If unbroken, it enables this arrangement of closed doors to continue in perpetuity, silencing voices, processes, and technologies from the margins.