MEDIA

VISUAL ARTS SYMPOSIUM - 2017

Whose Heritage? - Photography Panel Discussion

For the second edition of the biannual Visual Arts Symposium (VAS), Black Mark Collective partnered with the Market Photo Workshop to explore a range of tendencies that are prevalent in creative practice today. The contingent of presenters and panelists on the programme addressed issues including but not limited to filmmaking, photography, collective practice, urban planning, photographic archives etc. in an engaging conversation around contemporary art practice.

The Market Photo Workshop plays a leading role in the advancement of photography in South Africa that is also increasingly engaged in the discursive field. Therefore it was fitting that Black Mark Collective and the Market Photo Workshop partner in hosting the edition of the Visual Arts Symposium.

Moderator Khwezi Gule is joined by independent curator Thato Mogotsi, photographer Akona Kenqu and WiSER PhD Art History Fellow, Candice Jansen.

PART 1

Market Photo Workshop - Slaghuis 2 work of Thembinkosi Hlatshwayo (2020)

PART 2

PART 3

AWARE x WOPHA x PAMM - On the Edge of Visibility: An International Symposium (2024)

Photography, Power, and the Ethics of Representation: Imaged by History (2020)

Conceptualised and convened by scholar and arts writer M. Neelika Jayawardane, the programme is a response to continuing inequalities in photography, especially the obstacles African and African diaspora photographers face.

The dialogues between photography practitioners, photojournalists, artists, writers, and scholars aim to challenge and strategize against systemic practices of exclusion, build better educational tools, empower existing training programmes, and create stronger networks.

The Market Photo Workshop showcased a virtual exhibition titled Slaghuis 2, the work of Thembinkosi Hlatshwayo, the 2019 Gisèle Wulfsohn Mentorship in Photography Recipient.

This came as the country was on Level 4 lockdown and many places were closed.

Public participation with the artist was encouraged through social media platforms of the workshop. 

Hosted by AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions; Women Photographers International Archive (WOPHA); and Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), this symposium offeref a transcontinental approach and encompasses postcolonial, feminist, and queer perspectives.

Topics discussed considered the concerns and complexities of defining what it means to be a Black or Indigenous woman artist within different cultural settings.