Tender Resistance: The Exhibition

Hey Besties! Happy Women's Day to all the wise, kind, resilient, creative superwomen out there!

I took a hiatus, but it looks like I am... back... on... track? (until when? who's to say). I have spent some time touching grass, crowding then clearing my mind, reading books, and just attending to my day-to-day. But this week, I was stopped in my tracks.

When Tanya invited me to perform poetry on First Thursday, I had to look inward and understand what Tender Resistance (this month's theme) meant for me. To be human is to hold a universe inside of us that asks to be set free. With all of society's made-up rules, how do we show up authentically?

As women, we hold multiple truths at once: having to be soft but not meek, having to be assertive but not brutal, having to be generous without abandoning ourselves, holding ourselves with pride without being arrogant... You name it.

Tender Resistance is an invitation to break free from an imposed norm while staying true to oneself. It spills into several aspects of our lives, and I believe the exhibition showcases the different expressions of this sentiment.

Pam Friedman offers us an insight into women in leadership. She looked at her used Nespresso capsule and saw a pixel instead of metallic refuse, then turned it into art; I thought to myself, "I like how her mind works."

The finished canvases displayed colorful portraits of two Nguni queens, Queen Nandi and Queen Lozikeyi, adorned in headwraps and earrings. The choice of subjects is strong; the means to the end is an unusual way to make the ordinary extraordinary.

In Zulu, Nandi means "the sweet one". A close look at her life teaches us that she survived repetitive hurdles: humiliation, marital turmoil, successive exiles, and the passing of King Senzangakhona, father of her first two children. Her son, Shaka, took over his father's throne by force, crowned his mother, Nandi, his queen, and honored her as his closest political advisor.

Queen Lozikeyi was King Lobhengula's senior queen of the Ndebele nation. An influential political and spiritual force who led a remarkable resistance against colonial rule between the 19th and the 20th century. She encouraged the renaissance of the Ndebele nation through tactics and intelligence, a political and military player behind the War of the Great Axe.

Their story is a testament to fierceness and resilience. A great example of tender appearance hiding a sharp mind.

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  Queen Nandi by Pam Friedman

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  Queen Lozikeyi by Pam Friedman

You can tell a lot about what an artist notices first in people by what they put forward in their work. For Pam, it's faces. Her artwork is a zoom-in on the subjects' faces, with special attention to the way light reflects on skin; an enjoyable body of work.

Speaking of faces, Samantha Maseko is a familiar one! I have come across paintings like Silence Is Gold a few weeks after the grand opening of the Asisebenze Art Gallery last year, and after taking a look at her social media, I recognised the shades of brown and the brushstrokes. Her approach to tender resistance is tied to African identity through hairstyle. As black women, we could talk all day about the trials and tribulations of hair maintenance; wash days that seem interminable, combing through the tangles... But let's be honest, we love our hair. And we love the glow after a new hairstyle even more!

Black hair, for Samantha, is a symbol of royalty, and she affectionately calls it a crown.

When I went natural, my strongest motive was to embrace the hair that grows out of my scalp the way it grows out of my scalp. Then I shaved it off on a whim, just to see what would happen, and I surprisingly did not hate myself. Hair is supposed to be fun; it grows back.

She states, "My work is a declaration that black woman should exist unapologetically, free from the need to justify their beauty, language, skin, or cultural heritage." Tender Resistance mirrors an existence without apologies, the courage to take up space.

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  Don't Touch My Hair ii by Samantha Maseko

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  My Hero, My Father by Samantha Maseko

I've learned a lot this weekend. When I sat down to interview Nomonde Kananda, visual artist, we laughed a lot over our shared love for nature and many revelations about coming from dust and returning to it. She is a deeply introspective woman with a rich internal world. She is not just a photographer, but a storyteller with a fond affection for Maasai culture. She affectionately wears a Maasai blanket and intends to heal through her art.

When we spoke of Tender Resistance, I couldn't help but picture a push/pull motion like that of an elastic. When asked what that meant for her, she explained that she felt a strong push against her upbringing the more she grew as a woman, a healer, and an artist. As for the "pull" aspect, what she is drawn to is hard to explain but beautiful and liberating to experience.

I liked Bayeza ii, one of her photographs, because it's a superimposition of three photographs at once, showing three silhouettes, reminding me of the three components of the human psyche.

She gets creative outbursts when she spends time in nature, as she feels deeply connected to the land. It was endearing to hear her speak so fondly about the trees and bodies of water, and we spoke about clouds as part of the water cycle too. She taught me a new word, "imbewu", meaning "seed" in Zulu, a symbol of continuous growth and connection to the earth. It is also the title of my favourite photograph from her series in the exhibition.

She explained the cloud was captured on a rainy day, which then made me think: The cloud doesn't know the simple act of letting go is a blessing to the world beneath it. How much of our potential are we holding back by resisting self-expression?

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  Bayeza ii by Nomonde Kananda

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  Imbewu by Nomonde Kananda

I've never heard "what are your intentions with my art?" before. So when Thobile Nhlapo asked this question while I was roaming the gallery and prompting her to a conversation, I laughed (I know, I laugh over everything). It's not an invalid question; it made me feel like a young man asking for a woman's hand in marriage. I digress... We've talked about the relationship between art and its spectators on this platform before; for my part, I report on my findings from the creative ecosystem after holding meaningful conversations with the messengers (artists). And so we talked about her series of photographs and what they represent.

She is a mixed-media artist who combines textile art, photography, and digital art.

For Tender Resistance, she picked four photographs of farm animals (cow, sheep, calf, and goat, respectively) from a series called "Morena". The word means "Chief" in Sesotho, her grandmother's mother tongue. The photographs, printed on textiles, depicted the animals adorned with beaded and embroidered golden crowns synonymous with royalty.

The choice of subject was intentional. In South African culture, farm animals serve a purpose beyond nutrition; they are essential parts of any traditional ceremony. She explained that without the animals, there is no ceremony even if the community is gathered.

With the animals, the offerings, being the guests of honour and messengers, it's only fair that she crowns them with honour. Each of them had their unique crown, meticulously crafted according to Thobile's whim, and the results were beautiful.

For her, the animals hold knowledge of their purpose in each ceremony, where even the remains are repurposed and contextualised. Tender Resistance is expressed through the delicateness of the craft to convey a powerful message about community life.

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  Thobile Nhlapo

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  Tsela by Thobile Nhlapo

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  Thobile Nhlapo from my gallery to you

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  Mobu by Thobile Nhlapo

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  Thobile with Mobu

Each woman brought a beautiful and unique perspective on a multifaceted theme. Pam brought us an exploration through history; Samantha challenged stigmas around identity, Nomonde invited us to introspect, while Thobile highlighted active participants of community life. There is so much more to say, but how about I show you instead. You can visit the Exhibition's catalogue then enjoy a few glimpses from my time there this month:

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  Paintings by Nicci Joao

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  Infinite Self by Mbali Tshabalala

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  Restless Air by Jessica Boyer

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  Open Ground by Jessica Boyer

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  The Quiet Bloom by Nicci Joao

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  Untitled work by Kutlwano Monyai

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  Close up of Queen Lozikeyi by Pam Friedman

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  Close up of Queen Lozikeyi by Pam Friedman

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  Hoyohoyo by Reitumetse Mogatla

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  Artwork by Kutlwano Monyai

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  Untitled Photograph by Reitumetse Mogatla

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  Majaha by Reitumetse Mogatla

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  Windows We Carry by Nicci Joao

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  After The Fire by Nicci Joao

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  Where Softness Takes Roots by Nicci Joao

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  Soft Divide by Jessica Boyer

Thanks to the exhibition, a series of poems has come to life in my own registry, and I cannot wait to share them with you. I hope you were inspired.

Until next time. Stay educated, stay curious, stay fabulous, Besties!

And don't hesitate to reach out; I can't text to save my life, but I sure will write back ;)