Video nomad: Wired into Africa’s context

11 October 2016 - 10:14 By Gemma Hart

A multiplicity of pixels emerge in waves, radiating digitally on the screen. Information trickles on to foreign shores, extending telegenic space. The wandering travellers congregate beyond borders to construct reciprocal relationships in an increasingly globalised world.In 2013 Videonomad was born. The project stemmed from a desire to create a platform for video art, specifically engaging in work from the continent and the diaspora.Director Tobi Ayedadjou, a visual artist from Benin living in Germany, and co-ordinator Lucia Nhamo, a Zimbabwean visual artist, said: "We love the idea of screenings around the world because they mimic the global reality of our interconnectedness."The latest manifestation of the project takes place from Thursday to Saturday at Harare's Njelele Art Station.ERASERHEAD: Dineo Seshee Bopape's experimental montages"We're not only screening in southern Africa for the first time, but we're also hosting a multifaceted programme over the three days," said Nhamo."We saw an incredible opportunity from the Pro Helvetia ANT grant we received to invite a select group of artists from around Southern Africa to engage the arts community in Harare."The artists were selected as a cross-reference of Southern African video artists who are at different stages of their careers," Nhamo said.Various iterations of the project have been explored around the globe - the organisers and artists have been invited to participate in exhibitions and screenings in Tokyo, Japan, Pesaro, Italy, Salvador, Brazil and Kalamata in Greece.MIND TRAFFIC: Simon Gush's 'Lazy Nigel'The Videonomad team also exhibited at Dak'Art OFF: African Contemporary Art Biennale in Senegal earlier this year.The South African artists in the show include Bogosi Sekhukhuni, who describes himself as a ''light worker and creative director".His recent work explores ''emergent technologies and repressed African spiritual philosophies".There is also multimedia artist Dineo Seshee Bopape, who uses experimental video montages, sound, found objects, photographs and sculpture to explore memory, narration and representation.Also exhibiting will be Kitso Lynn Lelliott, who has a master's degree in film and television and is interested in telling stories about Africa .Others who will show their work are Lerato Shadi who uses her body as her medium to disrupt history, stereotyping and assumption; Simon Gush studies in Belgium and has exhibited all over the world; and Tabita Rezaire - a Johannesburg-based ''cyber-warrior".The theme linking this eclectic group is the notion of power, identity in flux and a sense of a context that is specifically South African.These artists interrogate the geopolitical forces of the South African context.Videonomad intends to "widen the definition of what's possible in the art space context in terms of video art as a medium".In establishing and extending dynamic relationships between videomakers from the continent, Videonomad also wants to enrich the global video art scene."Communing in one space as artists from different countries and practices can only serve towards that goal," said Nhamo.See bubblegumclub.co.za..

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