In August last year was the first AwethuArt event. It was a film screening of The Hajji followed by a Q&A with the cast and crew that was facilitated by an old university friend who is now a director and her partner in crime. The event was a "success" in that we had a bunch of people show up, far more than I expected, the tickets covered the cost of the mics I bought for the night, the venue made some money and the cast and crew had their dinner paid for. I don't know if that was the intention behind the event though. Now that I have some time I've been reflecting on what AwethuArt was supposed to be, has it been that and what to do with it now.
AwethuArt was actually proposed as a name change for South African Artists Against Apartheid, an artistic collective campaigning for the cultural boycott of Israel, while supporting local artists, political art broadly, Palestinian artists and creating spaces to talk politics without being boring. The name change came partly because having the email address aslam.bulbulia@southafricanartistsagainstapartheid.com felt ridiculous and also because, when people saw the name alone, people thought we were being ironic protesting apartheid after 1994 and us having to explain the link to the current apartheid state of Israel. Long story short the name change never happened and the group kind of died out but the memories I had of the SAAAA events, particularly the Wednesday Sessions, I had were vivid and strong. I felt that space where anyone could show up and experience something new, meet some new people and think about different art in a new way was essential and exciting. I wanted to recreate spaces like that.
Following the film screening we have organised a poetry night, a couple of bloggers' evenings and a graffiti day. I'm not so sure if these events have managed to capture the feel of the Wednesday Sessions nor do I think they've quite been what I initially intended for them. This is not to say that they haven't been good or produced worthwhile outcomes but some reflections and redirections are necessary at this point.
They say it's good to start with an identification of the problem you're trying to solve and perhaps I've been scattered in this. I've been trying to make art more accessible, develop a network of artists in the city, develop young artists, create engaging spaces, counter dominant artistic narratives and get young Muslims involved in self-expression while not creating exclusively Muslim spaces for this. I think all of these things are still things that I think are worth doing and if anything I would add to it that the need for a long-term repository of our stories and that the type of art being produced needs to reflect ideas that are important to me.
Ideas I would like art to explore more include:
- decolonisation, which is trending right now but a term I think I was looking for in Muslim thought for so long and finally found.
- anti-consumerism, I find the art of today which could be really powerful tanks to social media is so closely linked to brands that its objective seems little more than to fuel consumption.
- pluralism, being able to express your reality freely for others to engage with who you are and fully engaging in the next person with both people being able to walk away from the experience enriched, changed but not threatened.
- anti-individualism, the relationship between art and ego is something I want to unpack further but the individualism and egoism that stems from its current modes of celebration are something I feel is spiritually unhealthy.
I have just begun organising a storytelling evening to take place in Fordsburg/Mayfair. My hope is that the coming together of all the diverse people that live in my favourite suburb to openly and honestly share their stories may be a way to reduce some of the othering that occurs there on a daily basis. I'm quite looking forward to hearing the richness of that place and continuing to reflect on AwethuArt as it happens.
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