Interview with Nicholas Hlobo by Diane Frankel

Nicholas Hlobo cuts, tears, punctures and resews varied materials such as paper, black inner tube, satin ribbon, leather, textiles that are rich in associations and creates drawings, sculptural installations and performances where he explores issues of personal identity, such as gender, sexuality, ethnicity, origins and colonial history. As Hlobo explains in the following video, he makes the seam, which he highlights by using bright satin ribbon, central to his work by giving it metaphorical significance.  In his drawings he wants to make a mark but instead of using a pen he chooses a sharp object and makes a scar. The action is more violent and the following process of sewing is a process of mending, of repair. Sean O’Toole speaks of the seam as “ the defining metaphor of Hlobo ‘s work, grafting histories and reconciling opposites.”

Hlobo’s drawings are a visual delight: imaginative, intricate and provocative. Increasingly they are gaining a sculptural quality as threads and other materials spill out of the frame onto the wall reaching the floor. His sculptural works often made out of black inner tube with its association to industrialization and urban growth feel more aggressive and invasive yet are tempered by the yielding quality of the rubber material, the softness of the textiles and Hlobo’s general unwillingness to be fully explicit and lay things bare.

Hlobo was born in Cape Town in 1975 and belongs to the Xhosa culture. He tends to title his works in Xhosa. Asked about the reasons of his choice, he responds:

“ It opens up worlds that are closed. It challenges the notion that art making is a purely western tradition and should solely exist within the constraints of the English language.  It challenges the idea that English is the best way to communicate. Most of my work requires curiosity, to look a bit further. The visual language is universal but most work is informed by a personal way of seeing. My work speaks of my place of origin and makes reference to my South African history.”

Nicholas Hlobo is a rising international star. He was included in the 2011 Venice Biennale, was chosen in 2010 by Rolex for the Mentor and Protégé program with Anish Kapoor, and has been included in the Paris Triennale, Tate Modern, and Palazzo Grassi.

Zanele Muholi, is one of South Africa ‘s foremost artists. She sees herself as a visual activist. She addresses in her work the reality of what is to be lesbian and gay in South Africa where homosexuality is not accepted and where some cultural and social beliefs authorize the “ corrective rape” of gay women.  She captures her world, and gives visibility to black lesbians in her project Faces and Phases where she records the distinctiveness of each individual through the traditional genre of black and white portraiture.

There is an inherent bravery in her process as she and her sitters, by making themselves publicly known, put their life and livelihood at risk. Indeed, just this past April, Muholi had 20 external hard drives stolen from her flat in Vredehoek, Cape Town and since little else was taken it is fair to presume that her work was the target. That was five years of work!

In her words: “ The preservation and mapping of our histories is the only way for us black lesbians to be visible.”  ” I have seen people speaking and capturing images of lesbians on our behalf, as if we are incapable and mute… I refused to become subject matter for others and to be silenced. Many have exiled our female African bodies: by colonizers, by researchers, by men. Sarah Baartman became a spectacle for Europeans, and she died in a foreign land. She was never given a chance to speak for herself…It is for this reason that I say ‘ No, not yet another black body’”.

She was recently included in a group show Tete a Tete curated by Mickalene Thomas at Rhona Hoffman Gallery in Chicago, and in Appropriated Landscapes at the Walther Collection, New Ulm / Burlafingen. Her award-documentary Difficult Love is showing in St Petersburg and this summer Muholi will be showing a new series of over 25 portraits as part of Documenta 13 in Kassel, Germany.