Fighting 'injustice' with art

Artwork has gone beyond the gallery and, in the case of Xcollektiv, is fighting back against what the artists' collective deems to be injustice.

The anonymous members of the collective garnered attention for their subversive images, taking pot shots at politicians, most notably with an image of DA leader Helen Zille and President Jacob Zuma that went viral during last year's election.

The 21-member group has disseminated images of well-known and frequented locations in Cape Town, such as the trendy Old Biscuit Mill, in Woodstock, with a stencilled, anti-capitalist "Non-Poor Only" sign.

Xcollektiv also gained attention in November when it posted photos online of boulders placed by the municipality in Trafalgar Park, in Woodstock, to prevent loitering.

Xcollektiv, which started in 2012, has no leader or spokesman and the name refers to its anonymity.

"Like Malcolm X, the X is a symbolic name or no name. It is also a common written symbol of negation or affirmation. It also crosses out the copyright sign in our logo," said the group.

One of the members spoke to The Times anonymously about the group's work, and the challenges of working in a collective.

"We're working through how we deal with ideas anonymously. Issues must be the focus, not us.

"We are a big group, loosely constructed. At the moment we are 21 people. I am a visual artist but the group also has poets and writers," he said.

"We are self-funded. There are questions around raising money. There are challenges. We try not to make a profit. We want our art exhibitions to be participatory."

The group sells its "Non-Poor Only" stickers for R20 "to cover costs to continue working".

"We don't sell commodified artwork. We do cheap prints," the artist said.

The group, although similar to Tokolosh, does not collaborate with it.

Tokolosh made headlines last year with its prolific street art and spray painted graffiti such as "Remember Marikana".

Tokolosh also "embellished" the infamous Ray-Ban sculpture by Michael Elion on the Sea Point promenade.

"Tokolosh are out there," the anonymous artist laughed.

"We design stickers and stencils. They're quite secretive and there's a need for that."

City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for tourism and economic development Garreth Bloor said the city's arts and culture department had not had any formal contact with Tokolosh or Xcollektiv.

"The graffiti bylaw affects only work on walls and other surfaces. All three-dimensional work, including temporary art, goes through the same process of checks by departments such as transport and law enforcement.

"If there are no compliance issues, the works are allowed to go up," Bloor said