The stranger is now next door.

The global aspect of contemporary art and the impact of new waves of migrations are definitely on curators’ mind in Europe this summer. Indeed, The Triennial at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris probes the way in which artists react to the challenges of a multi-cultural society. I found again at the Triennial exhibition Intense Proximity the notion of the hybrid, which I had encountered in the work of Kader Attia in Documenta 13.

The Nigerian-born American director of the Haus der Kunst in Munich, Okwi Enwesor,  is the curator of the Triennial.  His point of departure is the ethnographic practice, which he sees as the beginning of the interest in the other. Traditionally, the other was generally located far away on a different continent. However, the distance has now collapsed and the other is now the stranger next door.  It is this experience of co-habitation, that intense proximity and how it is negotiated that is the focus of this show. In other words, ethnography starts at home.

The Marriage Room by Meschac Gaba, which was situated at the beginning of the exhibition, is a perfect illustration of the theme.  An autobiographical work, it includes images of Meschac Gaba’s wedding ceremony with his Dutch wife, her wedding gown and shoes, and a large selection of ordinary objects used by the couple in their daily life which are arranged on tables. The approach is clearly anthropological in the classification process of everyday objects. The juxtaposition of his and hers artifacts which are each linked to their respective origins addresses this idea of proximity.  “Cross-pollination” is one of the effects of this co-habitation.  

This room is part of a bigger project, the Museum of African Contemporary Art that Meschac Gaba has been working on for the last decade. His mobile museum, which in addition to a collection selection includes a museum restaurant, a playroom, and a library, has been touring for the last 8 years.  The whole idea seems so inventive and gutsy I was quite impressed. I liked also the nomadic aspect.

I found the fair quite fascinating and saw lots of good art despite the fact that the underlying premise was not always evident throughout the selection. This was a huge exhibition set in the newly renovated Palais de Tokyo, which felt like a labyrinth at times. As I went down from one floor to another I discovered a succession of cavernous spaces with video projections and installations, which contributed to a feeling of continuous discovery.

Wangechi Mutu’s video installation Suspended Play Time, 2012 in the cavernous lower level of the museum was for me the most striking and provocative piece of the whole exhibition. I am more familiar with her collages, which highlight the hybrid construct of contemporary cultural identity.

The video was projected on an arrangement of white sheets of paper set on the floor in a cave-like setting shaped out of grey felt against which balls made of recycled garbage bags and twine hung like ornaments. Mutu favors organic settings as opposed to the aseptic white cube of the gallery and museum space. The black and white video showed a black woman with long hair sitting with her legs apart proceeding to dig her hands into the cake, slowly eat it, and lick the chocolate cake off her fingers. Eventually she stood up and trampled and squished the cake with her fancy high heels. The video ended with a shot of her washing her hands in the river.

I walked in the middle of the video so it was unclear to me what she was eating. Was it mud or chocolate? Was I going to walk away responding to the part of me that was grossed out and or was I going to hang in there and embrace all my associations and fantasies (let me tell you they were of all sorts!). I stayed and saw it twice.  What was this piece about? Was it about gluttony as a metaphor for our consumerist society, and a critique of the ideal contemporary emaciated female who cannot embrace her pleasure and must conform to a Western norm of beauty? I am not sure, but those were some of my associations. Her lack of inhibition was certainly inspiring in a funny sort of a way.

I loved Marcia Kure’s exquisite watercolors that are becoming more abstract and anthropomorphic, and Nicholas Hlobo’s drawings on canvas made with silk ribbons and rubber.

El Anatsui’s new sprawling sculpture was stunning and surprisingly laid down on the floor. Usually his sculptures become wall hangings.

I am off to South Africa: Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town and will be back with lots of news.

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.