‘Realities of apartheid’: South African artist wins Deutsche Börse photography prize | Deutsche Börse photography prize
[ad_1]
South African artist Lebohang Kganye has won the prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Award for his work, which uses large-scale cut-outs and set elements to trace and depict his family history during the apartheid era.
The Johannesburg-based artist took home the £30,000 prize for her winning exhibition, which is on display at the Photographers’ Gallery in central London and is called Haufi nanny? I came to take you home.
In it, Kganye, who was born in 1990, at the end of apartheid, uses cutouts and objects that depict scenes from stories told by her family. The artist sometimes appears in the scenes, playing them dressed as her relatives.
Combining oral history, family photo albums and theater scenes, the result is work that the judges say “reflects the realities and consequences of apartheid and colonialism”.
Anne-Marie Beckmann, director of Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, said: “This was a strong shortlist, full of strong images and long-term projects, but we felt that Lebohang’s work experimented with the medium by combining photography and archival material from her family in a new and fresh way.”
Claire Graphic, Chair of the Jury and Acting Director of the Photographers’ Gallery, said: “Her work engages the audience through the installation and use of these free-standing collages where the audience becomes part of the experience. There is no distance between the work and the audience – her use of theater to bring the audience into conversation with the artwork was something we really enjoyed.”
Themes of family and history have been central to Kganye’s work since he emerged in early 2010. A breakthrough early work was Her storyin 2013, where she recreated images of her late mother, dressing as her and overlaying images of herself depicting the same scene.
Kganye worked briefly in television production and her cut-outs are inspired by set designers, while she also uses elements from theatre, literature and sculpture.
Haufi nanny?meaning “too close” in Sesotho, recalls stories of her family’s migration caused by land deeds and apartheid law, while she explores the alternation of her family’s surname, which means “light” in Sessotho.
This year’s other nominated artists, who will each receive £5,000, have created works that address themes of trauma or displacement.
Valli Export, the Austrian artist whose work has long focused on the female body, was also nominated along with Indian artists Gauri Gill and Rajesh Wangad – chosen for their book Fields of Sight, which combines photography and intricate Warli painting.
after the promotion of the newsletter
Hrair Sargsyan, the grandson of genocide refugees in Armenia who was born and raised in Damascus, was selected for his work on loss, trauma and untold stories rediscovered after conflict.
Sarkissian, who previously created work about the mass killings in Spain during the Franco era, was nominated for Last Seen, an exhibition that focuses on “disappeared” people who disappeared during conflicts and is a series of images taken on their last known location.
Beckman said the work on the 2024 shortlist was about issues of “displacement”, “legacy” and “giving voice to unheard communities”.
“If you look at Sargsyan’s work, he has gone to different countries, whether in Kosovo, Argentina or other regions. It sheds light on work that might otherwise be hidden. The same goes for the work of Gauri Gill and Rajesh Wangad, as well as Vali Export, who were creating very provocative work for feminism in the 1970s – which is definitely still needed.”
[ad_2]
