On 20 June 2018, a video projection of the art documentary related to Nelson Mandela Univeristy's Magda Minguzzi's project with the KhoiSan community "The Spirit of water" filmed at Cape Recife, will be shown at Le Centre in Cotonou, Benin, (http://www.lecentredubenin.org). Background on the piece appears below.
BACKGROUND:
On the 6th of May 2017, 11 artists and art collectives from 6 countries across the globe produced simultaneous art performances that were recorded through photographs and videos for exhibition. The aim was to bring attention to the fragile marine environment, threatened by pollution, excessive fishing, and encroaching human development and industry.
Participating artists: Benin, Ouidah: Flavia Vaccher/Croatia, Zadar: Josip Zanki and Matija Zdunić/Italy, Venice: Davide Skerlj/Mexico, San Luis Potosí: Manolo Cocho with DRY collective group/South Africa, Port Elizabeth: Magda Minguzzi with chief Margaret Coetzee, chief Xam ≠ Gaob Maleiba/United States, Brookyn: Ethan Cornell, Justin Frankel, Megan Suttles, Jimi Pantalon, eXtll
In Port Elizabeth the performance took place in Cape Recife Nature Reserve where there are KhoiSan sacred places: the fish traps. These are also the most ancient structure (construction) present in the local area constructed by the Strandlopers.
For this reason, being there was highly significant, in terms of heritage.
The representatives of the KhoiSan people, as descendants of the Strandlopers, practiced ancient rituals, such as the “cleansing ceremony”, in front of the ocean, where the traces of the fish traps are still visible. It was a metaphorical act -related to identity and culture- that connects our contemporary reality with a time in the past, when human beings were in harmony with Mother Earth and the sea.
These rituals were accompanied by the making of a fire, as an ancestral symbol of gathering and community meeting.
The participants were the “communities” or individuals that have an interest in the Ocean/Sea and that feel the urgency to preserve and restore it.
Nelson Mandela University Engagement Advancement Fund (EAF) 2017, AEON-ESSRI (Africa Earth Observatory Network, Earth Stewardship, Science, Research Institute), Communication & Stakeholder Liaison and Department of Arts and Culture of the Nelson Mandela University as well the Nelson Mandela Bay Arts Culture Heritage Department and Municipality supported the project.
International partners: Juliet contemporary art magazine, University of Trieste (Italy), Hdlu Croatian visual artist association.