Naive loyalists, hardcore feminists and sexists, politicians and citizens, staunch racists and liberals, left and right wingers, activists and fundamentalists, academics and practitioners, blacks, whites and everyone else in between, locals and internationals, the filthy rich and the wretched, the religious and atheists, the gullible and the skeptics, curators and artists, employers and employees, the collectives and individuals, you and i... etc. etc.
A very diverse response from the cross-section of our society, which, besides the money-making aspect of course, art practice can have a piercing and brutal punctum in its own right, and ability to destabilize and disturb the status quo and various societal belief systems, including religions, politics and cultural practices amongst others. Of course we live in a racially divided and economically elusive empowerment, and politically intolerant society, morally degenerate and with increased greed and gluttony. It's a dog eats dog society, where every man for himself situation is a daily grind. This being so, whatever is at play when we 'read' Murray's piece in question [our spectacle(s)] becomes our conditioning modality. I read different positions from various people across media platforms.
Now living in such a society where injustice is a commonplace, we've actually become horridly stupefied by all these spine chilling realities. We are easily misled to believe a myriad of lies one on top of the other, yet, we remain in the same state of affairs. Art production is engendered period.
I am not in anyway condemning anyone for anything here, but what is clear is that, 'we' have a long way to go still, and it has never been a shorter one either. I heard some mentioning of the hegemonic gatekeepers. Yes, we have seen the elephants sculptures case in KZN and a response to Zanele Muholi's work in the recent years by former Arts and Culture Minister. The latter work was not as exhausted as its counterparts' while it suffered similar discrimination. A recent matter with the Venice Biennale remains a lingering dark cloud hovering over our heads...
Now if we still sit and wait for another moment of confrontation of such nature without actively destabilizing and resisting censorship, then our utterances will be vain.
On the note of 'racial card'. We all know 'art' is still not fully offered in the mainstream schooling system to this day, and 'formal' art practice came along with the missionaries in the last two centuries or so. Already that being so, art was since perceived as an 'elite' practice, as it remained 'formally' with whites. To then pull out a racial card in such instances for me becomes pointless. Why? Solely because, we have always been a racially engendered society, whether we like that or not, it is a fact of the matter. Now to wake up today and be amazed that racism still exists in South Africa is imbecilic and downright annoying. So if we are affected by racial notions then let us address them accordingly, rather than scavenging on opportunities that could have otherwise yielded enriching experiences and possibilities. I am not denying any racial spectacle and hegemonic undertones. I will table that another day. Something was very wrong from the onset, as the playing fields were never leveled, so we will always have an elephant in the room.
Let us continue to converse with at least a faint understanding of the object of that conversation...
