1
00:00:04,990 --> 00:00:08,230
[♪ ♪ ]

2
00:00:21,825 --> 00:00:26,359
All here used to be some fine white gravel

3
00:00:26,359 --> 00:00:28,803
going all the way down the drive

4
00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:31,560
It was beautiful

5
00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:32,843
but there's a lot of work

6
00:00:34,442 --> 00:00:36,899
I don't think I like raking too much.

7
00:00:36,908 --> 00:00:38,853
My idea of gardening is that

8
00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,191
you just throws seeds and let things grow

9
00:00:42,191 --> 00:00:43,438
as if they're growing in the wild.

10
00:00:56,399 --> 00:01:01,219
From my memory as a child, I always drew.

11
00:01:03,492 --> 00:01:06,601
Then I would find myself constructing things.

12
00:01:09,119 --> 00:01:14,119
I'd always show my grandmother and one
of my aunts and they'll say to me [Xhosa word].

13
00:01:14,238 --> 00:01:16,528
[Xhosa word] means a creative person.

14
00:01:23,221 --> 00:01:27,153
Even though I come from a culture where men are very important,

15
00:01:27,153 --> 00:01:29,421
I grew up in a household where there’s no male figure.

16
00:01:30,807 --> 00:01:32,751
I was brought up by my maternal grandmother.

17
00:01:33,606 --> 00:01:36,490
She was a tough cookie and I'm grateful to have had her.

18
00:01:40,439 --> 00:01:45,697
"All forces, good or bad, or somewhere in between, will be anxiously waiting for

19
00:01:45,697 --> 00:01:50,547
the daring fool that hopes to venture onto the new land.

20
00:01:51,384 --> 00:01:54,266
Don’t be scared just enjoy the cruise."

21
00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:00,240
I think in English,
which was a reason I found myself trying

22
00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:02,915
to go into using the Xhosa language

23
00:02:03,846 --> 00:02:06,305
to remind myself of where I come from

24
00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:09,660
[♪ ♪ ]

25
00:02:12,144 --> 00:02:16,013
When I was invited by the Uppsala Art Museum in Sweden

26
00:02:16,873 --> 00:02:22,680
I decided the title of the exhibition should be “Zawelela Ngale,”

27
00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:28,634
which is two words that refer to going to the other side.

28
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,000
In the world, there's debates around boundaries.

29
00:02:36,599 --> 00:02:39,243
America is hoping to build its own wall.

30
00:02:41,035 --> 00:02:44,142
At times you have to physically be on your belly crawling,

31
00:02:44,142 --> 00:02:46,638
almost like a snake to go under fences.

32
00:02:47,879 --> 00:02:50,560
But I said, that’s not what we are really talking about.

33
00:02:51,420 --> 00:02:55,190
We are talking about something more superior than that crossing.

34
00:02:56,700 --> 00:03:01,862
Going across, “Zawelela Ngale,” could be a psychological or spiritual crossing,

35
00:03:02,459 --> 00:03:07,538
or intellectual going across to the other side of the field.

36
00:03:09,980 --> 00:03:14,762
[♪ ♪ ]

37
00:03:18,420 --> 00:03:23,933
I grew up in the Transkei, the former Xhosa homeland in 1975.

38
00:03:25,534 --> 00:03:28,862
There’s only Xhosa people and a handful of white people,

39
00:03:28,862 --> 00:03:30,983
and colored people.

40
00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:35,000
Even though it was part of the apartheid architecture,

41
00:03:35,340 --> 00:03:39,299
somehow, we’re saved from the harshness of apartheid.

42
00:03:44,099 --> 00:03:48,374
I got to experience apartheid firsthand when I moved to Johannesburg,

43
00:03:48,493 --> 00:03:51,854
where the difference was being made very clear

44
00:03:52,092 --> 00:03:54,751
that you’re Xhosa, you’re Zulu,

45
00:03:54,751 --> 00:03:56,159
the Afrikaners

46
00:03:56,159 --> 00:03:58,280
the English

47
00:03:58,280 --> 00:03:59,807
and all the little feuds

48
00:03:59,807 --> 00:04:01,672
that happen amongst each group.

49
00:04:04,379 --> 00:04:07,792
We have a lot of challenges in our young democracy.

50
00:04:10,260 --> 00:04:15,123
It's almost as though, whatever we thought was taut,

51
00:04:15,123 --> 00:04:17,435
is beginning to almost unravel itself somehow.

52
00:04:18,588 --> 00:04:21,007
So, I’m looking at myself in relation to the world

53
00:04:21,724 --> 00:04:24,167
being South African, being black,

54
00:04:24,501 --> 00:04:28,793
being Xhosa, being a gay man, being a man.

55
00:04:29,247 --> 00:04:31,441
And I'm looking at the various cultures

56
00:04:31,441 --> 00:04:33,901
that has brought this country to where it is now.

57
00:04:34,259 --> 00:04:37,338
If you think of the Dutch influence, the British influence.

58
00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:46,648
I had to unpack what symbolism I could use to refer to that.

59
00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,000
- So there's a difference you see now when I pull that, 
see that is still in position

60
00:04:55,146 --> 00:04:56,835
it's not this it's not that.

61
00:04:57,306 --> 00:04:58,475
- That's where we want it to be.

62
00:04:58,620 --> 00:05:00,708
[♪ ♪ ]

63
00:05:00,996 --> 00:05:05,725
I somehow found a way of relating that 
to the idea of a medical practitioner

64
00:05:06,370 --> 00:05:07,413
in a surgical room

65
00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,136
when you have to heal someone.

66
00:05:11,590 --> 00:05:14,140
You have to cut and remove the ailment

67
00:05:14,433 --> 00:05:16,983
and stitch them again to mend them.

68
00:05:18,900 --> 00:05:24,016
In the process of nation building you are 
inflicting pain in order to heal,

69
00:05:26,999 --> 00:05:29,112
so that's how the idea of

70
00:05:29,112 --> 00:05:30,706
drawing with a knife

71
00:05:30,706 --> 00:05:33,351
and sewing ribbons was born.

72
00:05:35,639 --> 00:05:40,440
What is most important apart from the 
objects that we're making

73
00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:42,496
is that line that we cut.

74
00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:52,358
The materials are there to add a layer 
of the story that is being told.

75
00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:55,817
- Do the usual pop, pop.

76
00:05:57,825 --> 00:05:59,713
- And this one is one thousand five.

77
00:05:59,856 --> 00:06:00,834
- That's one five?

78
00:06:00,834 --> 00:06:02,465
- This is a beautiful brown.

79
00:06:04,259 --> 00:06:10,613
In the Contemporary World, cowhide 
goes into making our garments, our accessories

80
00:06:13,139 --> 00:06:17,715
would take their lives to make our lives
easier for these human beings

81
00:06:20,580 --> 00:06:21,291
- A big cow

82
00:06:21,291 --> 00:06:22,985
they have that one, yeah?

83
00:06:22,985 --> 00:06:23,767
They call the "achacha."

84
00:06:23,767 --> 00:06:24,649
- Like a "Brahman?"

85
00:06:24,649 --> 00:06:25,832
The achacha.

86
00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:31,237
When there's a wedding ceremony, the cows
will be used as a dowry so they're valued

87
00:06:31,428 --> 00:06:32,218
- Yeah, that's good.

88
00:06:32,218 --> 00:06:34,584
It's our form of currency, traditionally speaking,

89
00:06:35,340 --> 00:06:36,000
- That's one, two

90
00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:38,579
three, four. Okay.

91
00:06:38,751 --> 00:06:40,179
- Twelve thousand.

92
00:06:40,179 --> 00:06:40,679
- Okay.

93
00:06:40,679 --> 00:06:42,337
- I always forget your name, what's your name?

94
00:06:42,337 --> 00:06:43,501
- My name is Kofi.

95
00:06:43,501 --> 00:06:44,593
- "Kofi Annan."

96
00:06:44,593 --> 00:06:47,859
- One time you'll see, I'll come and just take all your shop.

97
00:06:47,859 --> 00:06:48,784
[Laughs]

98
00:06:48,902 --> 00:06:50,960
- So that you'll come back and take everything.

99
00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:52,960
- So that you can go celebrate!

100
00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:54,501
Just clean you out.

101
00:06:54,501 --> 00:06:55,853
- We're good right?

102
00:06:56,521 --> 00:06:57,668
Voila.

103
00:06:59,134 --> 00:07:05,000
[♪ ♪ ]

104
00:07:12,508 --> 00:07:14,296
This is our sewing room.

105
00:07:15,156 --> 00:07:18,242
And this is where we make our costumes.

106
00:07:20,259 --> 00:07:22,192
Um, I'll start with this piece.

107
00:07:23,649 --> 00:07:25,972
This was for my show at the ICA in Boston.

108
00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:32,230
There I did a performance that was titled 
“Thoba, utsale umnxeba”.

109
00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:37,624
Meaning lower yourself and make a call.

110
00:07:37,744 --> 00:07:40,771
That word could also mean draw a cord.

111
00:07:43,139 --> 00:07:45,967
Humble yourself and redeem yourself so that

112
00:07:45,967 --> 00:07:47,572
you are more respectful.

113
00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:01,267
In the beginning, there was a time when we didn't dress.

114
00:08:01,888 --> 00:08:02,388
- Hi

115
00:08:02,388 --> 00:08:03,388
- Hi

116
00:08:03,579 --> 00:08:04,557
- Good, how are you?

117
00:08:04,881 --> 00:08:06,726
You can pick whichever one you want.

118
00:08:06,726 --> 00:08:07,226
- Okay

119
00:08:07,226 --> 00:08:08,088
- Between the two.

120
00:08:08,088 --> 00:08:08,588
- Okay

121
00:08:08,994 --> 00:08:10,000
Um, do you mind tying this?

122
00:08:10,378 --> 00:08:12,172
We put a fig leaf in front.

123
00:08:12,769 --> 00:08:17,101
Eventually, we found ways of processing skins from

124
00:08:17,101 --> 00:08:20,676
different animals to better ourselves.

125
00:08:20,676 --> 00:08:22,676
- We'll place the mirrors here.

126
00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:24,563
- In the closet?

127
00:08:24,563 --> 00:08:25,650
- Yes

128
00:08:25,650 --> 00:08:26,150
- Okay

129
00:08:27,703 --> 00:08:32,945
When cultures were still very young, men and women just draped ropes around their bodies,

130
00:08:32,945 --> 00:08:34,260
there were no trousers,

131
00:08:35,574 --> 00:08:37,720
and I find that to be very interesting

132
00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:39,363
and I like the color white

133
00:08:39,817 --> 00:08:45,126
for in all cultures is a color that symbolizes cleanliness.

134
00:08:46,153 --> 00:08:47,513
It's about purity.

135
00:08:48,683 --> 00:08:49,733
- Thank you, thank you

136
00:08:50,113 --> 00:08:51,091
- Thank you very much

137
00:08:51,353 --> 00:08:52,570
-Thank you, you look beautiful

138
00:08:52,977 --> 00:08:54,456
Thank you very much

139
00:08:54,456 --> 00:08:59,139
I conceived this performance with an intention to only direct it

140
00:08:59,688 --> 00:09:02,980
and invite others to bring it to life.

141
00:09:04,509 --> 00:09:07,726
[Sewing Machine Dinging]

142
00:09:14,820 --> 00:09:18,022
- It's a beautiful day to sew,

143
00:09:18,022 --> 00:09:19,835
everybody

144
00:09:23,268 --> 00:09:28,849
Sew all of you! Sew! Keep on sewing!

145
00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:33,771
The piece is titled, “The Parable of the Sower.”

146
00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:37,799
It’s based on the history of missionaries

147
00:09:38,276 --> 00:09:44,232
civilizing the uncivilized by introducing them to the sewing machine

148
00:09:44,232 --> 00:09:51,268
to create a new kind of fabric, 
converting them to become something else.

149
00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:56,020
Today, how we colonize is not done by force.

150
00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,921
The sewing machine is both masculine and feminine.

151
00:10:02,399 --> 00:10:07,983
The bobbin at the bottom is an orifice and the needle is very phallic.

152
00:10:08,700 --> 00:10:11,295
It embodies both ideas of sex.

153
00:10:13,011 --> 00:10:17,073
In the end, it's about the conception of something new.

154
00:10:17,312 --> 00:10:19,713
- You know how they say, "the clothes make the man?"

155
00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:21,068
[Laughs]

156
00:10:21,068 --> 00:10:22,141
We make the clothes.

157
00:10:22,573 --> 00:10:25,000
I'm just sewing ideas into your mind

158
00:10:25,619 --> 00:10:27,600
and I make you believe,

159
00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,100
which I think equates colonizing.

160
00:10:32,641 --> 00:10:36,040
[♪ ♪ ]

161
00:10:41,399 --> 00:10:46,844
This building became a synagogue somewhere before 1926

162
00:10:46,844 --> 00:10:49,881
when the Jewish community grew here.

163
00:10:51,242 --> 00:10:53,820
So the star of David and the things that are there,

164
00:10:53,820 --> 00:10:56,880
could have been stripped off, I could have taken them off so that I

165
00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:03,356
erase its history and make it mine. So here I'm not colonizing it, I'm just here to take care of it.

166
00:11:05,243 --> 00:11:07,504
I'm just here to take care of it.

167
00:11:10,657 --> 00:11:13,526
We create our own understanding of the world,

168
00:11:13,980 --> 00:11:15,334
all of us we do.

169
00:11:18,236 --> 00:11:23,295
As an artist, you should be the one who sings off key.

170
00:11:29,339 --> 00:11:32,678
The South African story I'm not the first person to tell.

171
00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:39,314
Many people have told it and many 
people will continue telling that story,

172
00:11:39,314 --> 00:11:44,630
but I have to find my way of telling that story and share with the people all over the world.

173
00:11:48,601 --> 00:11:50,785
To learn more about Art21 and our

174
00:11:50,785 --> 00:11:57,394
educational resources please visit us
online at pbs.org/art21

175
00:12:01,910 --> 00:12:04,501
Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 9 is

176
00:12:04,501 --> 00:12:06,344
available on DVD

177
00:12:06,774 --> 00:12:09,831
To order, visit shop.pbs.org

178
00:12:09,831 --> 00:12:13,623
or call 1-800 Play PBS

179
00:12:14,387 --> 00:12:18,388
This program is also available for
download on iTunes