Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37948

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    Curating African Identity in Postcolonial & Digital Spaces
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Lipshitz, Danya; Randle, Oluwarotimi
    This research interrogates the notion of "Authenticity" in the context of African art, both within the continent and the diaspora, particularly in digital platforms. Using Artspace.Africa—a reimagined version of the exhibition Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent—as a focal point, the study explores the complexities of African identity, spirituality, and spatial representation. I adapt Simon Njami's original thematic divisions— Identity & History, Body & Soul, and City & Land—while integrating Henri Lefebvre's layered concept of 'space,' involving physical, planned, and lived spaces. This curatorial approach aims to challenge monolithic perceptions of Africa, illuminating its diversity through an exploration of different types of space as theorised by Lefebvre. The methodology is qualitative, using my own curation as the primary lens for investigation. I consider the implications of digital platforms on the perceived "Authenticity" of artworks and the transformative role of the digital realm in archiving and exhibiting African art. The study also acknowledges its limitations, particularly concerning the digital divide and the limited access to the internet within a South African context. This research aims to contribute to a deeper, more nuanced understanding of African art and its multi-dimensional representations in the digital age.
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    Short Cut: A Feminist Reflection on the Postcolonial Uncanny
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) MILLS, ANGELITA VIOLA; Sakota, Tanja
    This research-led praxis Masters interrogates and explores Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory on the uncanny to realise a short film text, entitled Short Cut. Specific attributes of the uncanny are applied in the film’s attempt to produce a sensibility of the uncanny, in order to convey the anxiety and fear of femicide experienced by women in South Africa on a daily basis. The film is effectively created through the theoretical considerations of the research. Drawing on primary texts from Sigmund Freud, Homi Bhabha and Teresa De Lauretis, the research deliberates on how the uncanny is a critical register through which to articulate conditions of dread and horror shaping the lives of women navigating the spectre of femicide in South Africa. The uncanny is marshalled as an aesthetic-conceptual tool consciously and intentionally used by filmmakers and as an aesthetic and conceptual tool for filmmakers interested in exploring the experiences and traumas of postcolonial women. In so doing, it seeks to provide new possibilities, insights and expressions of representation on film, through the intersectional conceptual lenses of gender, postcolonial theory and psychoanalysis.