My Journey of Awareness: Dissertation

Hello!

Attached is my dissertation as submitted to the Durban University of Technology.  I graduated in 2012 Cum Laude and was awarded the Dean’s Merit Award for excellence.  An honour and great way to end this study journey.  My blog has been most helpful in this process and I thank everyone that engaged in it.

Many people influenced and inspired my study, but special gratitude goes to Prof Joan Conolly whom has become a dear friend and mentor, and continues to do so.

Enjoy reading my dissertation,

Naretha (aka Anna M Pretorius)

My Journey of Awareness: A Study in Memory, Identity and Creative Development

Controversy: Artist removed from show

Celeste Coetzee: Recent Art Show (image sourced from: http://www.iol.co.za)

Celeste Coetzee, an art student from UNISA, was recently asked to remove her work, and by that her self, from an art show because she ‘posed’ partly in the nude by exposing her breasts.  The controversy heated when she started tearing pages from the Bible, while set in a kitchen environment, and half dressed in Voortrekker clothing.  The artist commented on the patronising behaviour towards women as condoned and reinforced in a patriarchal society, especially in a conservative Afrikaner Calvinistic environment.  This is a social comment I also looked at and addressed in my Masters Study and exhibition; ‘Onthaal Onthul’.  Coetzee however, tackled the bull by the horns in a more direct way, whereas my work commented in a more subtle manner on the submissive positioning of women within the Calvinistic Afrikaner community by using tea serving metaphors layered with subtext.  It was this directness in her social commentary that left a bitter taste in the Franschhoek community’s mouths, and a heated topic that is now filling quite a few online pages with controversial viewpoints.

Read the article written by Michelle Jones: http://www.iol.co.za/tonight/news/local/nude-art-student-s-work-stripped-from-show-1.1188460

Coetzee is doing what artists are supposed to do: deliver meaningful comments on social injustice, whether current or past issues.  I am fascinated by the Curator’s comments when she stated: “As a gallery, that’s not the message we want to portray. She’s very negative to the old Afrikaner, Christian patriarchal system. She was trying to be the vulnerable woman suffering under the system. But women are not under that system anymore.” (Jones, 2009)

I am curious to know where this story will go, what the critical conversations will be.  Here we sit with a sensitive issue of an artist delivering her comment, possibly driven by her own experiences, and a curator that decided to silence her voice, reinforcing how women (and artists) are often silenced.  Is this issue really something of the past?  Read the marriage sacrament of the Reformed Church and you will see that it is not (http://www.gksa.org.za/ see ‘formuliere’).  In my opinion and from my own experiences as a woman in a ‘new’ South Africa, gender inequality, whether governed by religion, politics or policies still live in most of our environments; our professional, educational, political and personal and domestic spaces and that it is not limited to Afrikaner communities.  We should have more artists like Coetzee that has the courage to expose herself as she did (literally and metaphorically), it takes guts to do what she did, and I congratulate her for raising her artist’s voice!

I hope to see more from Celeste Coetzee, and that this incident will drive her to produce more of her meaningful work.

Naretha Pretorius

Mail & Guardian Article: Onthaal Onthul

Below the article for Onthaal Onthul in the Mail & Guardian, 24-30 June 2011, written by Alex Sudheim.

Complete article

Detail from Article

Interview with Robyn Cook: Onthaal Onthul

Robyn Cook interviewed me a while back asking interesting questions about Onthaal Onthul and my thinking and methodology, the interview is available for you to read on Artthrob.co.za:

http://www.artthrob.co.za/Reviews/Interview-with-Naretha-Pretorius.aspx

Onthaal Onthul – Catalogue (the story)

Hello friends!

I have written a book (catalogue) that accompanied my exhibition, Onthaal Onthul (27 June-16July 2011).  The catalogue was done in print format and made available at the show.  For those that could not attend, or that could not get their hands on the printed version, here’s the pdf format for you to download.  I would love to hear your feedback.

Enjoy.

Naretha

Onthaal Onthul Book_NPretorius2011

Onthaal Onthul – Opened at artSPACE durban

My first solo exhibition, Onthaal Onthul,  opened Monday night, 27 June 2011, at artSPACE durban, 3 Millar road, Durban.  The show will be up for three weeks and will close 16 July, 2011 at 1pm.

All artworks are for sale, as well as a book written, edited and published by me.  The book tells my research, creative and personal story in the form of poetry (in Afrikaans, my mother tongue, as well as in English).  The poetry is juxtaposed with numerous artworks contextualising my work.  My story tells of a life history lived and experienced during Apartheid, I speak of my upbringing within a conservative white Afrikaner community, and highlight critical social issues such as gender inequality as experienced in my community and as governed by the Reformed Church.

My work, as well as my book, is a subtle and gentle collection raising critical concerns by portraying notions of feminine beauty situated within a darker context.

The three dark churches, titled ‘Voorgesit, Voorgegee en nou Verlate’ (Served, Pretended and now Desolate) epitomizes my emotive response to my childhood memories of conservative and dogmatic indoctrination, yet the symbol of the church along with the landscape might provide another response to others, even a sense of comfort.

The series of little ceramic church plates on the other hand provide a feminine and petite visual representation and metaphor for the women within this community, the series is titled ‘Die Mooi Fasade‘ (The Beautiful Facade) and comments on the roles women assume within this community: the obedient daughters, the innocent brides, the subservient wives, the nurturing mothers, the exemplary homemakers and the charitable sisters.  Groomed to perfection….  a beautiful facade that is everything, but beautiful.

Onthaal Onthul is a reception welcoming the guests (visitors), it is a formal function, a celebration, a commemoration as well as a revelation.  The exhibition reveals the subtext within the aesthetic elements and social formalities by addressing the notion of etiquette (such as social conduct and serving guidelines).  Visitors are welcomed by a circle of petite wooden coffee tables, with ‘doilies’ neatly placed on each table.  The doily series ‘Drag/Gedrag’ (Dress/Manner)  illustrate women that are neatly groomed, beautifully dressed in lace dresses, satin gloves, court shoes and decorated with brooches and church hats, hands neatly folded with their feet together.

The work ’Bedien/Bediening/Bediende’ (Serve/Service/Servant) encapsulates the notion of tea serving etiquette by neatly aligning dozens of teaspoons, framed within wooden trays, simulating the congregation sitting perfectly in the church pews.  It reminds us of the women serving tea after the service setting dozens of saucers, teacups and teaspoons, followed by washing, drying and packing the dozens of saucers, teacups and teaspoons away, only to do it all again the following Sunday.  Rituals and traditions repeated and perfected, year in and year out, decade in and decade out.

Naretha will soon make her book available for download (as a pdf).

Alternatively, you can purchase the printed book for R40 (excl postal fees).

Photographs were taken by Lanel Janse van Vuuren.

Below a review written by Alex Sudheim for the Mail & Guardian newspaper:

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-06-23-durban-art-picks-june-24-2011

Artthrob: Onthaal Onthul

It is with great delight that my exhibition, Onthaal Onthul, features on Artthrob.

Have a look: http://artthrob.co.za/Listings/2011/06/Naretha-Pretorius-at-artSpace-in–June-2011.aspx

 

 

Onthaal Onthul: Opening 27 June 2011

Onthaal Onthul, my solo exhibition that forms part of my masters, will open at artSPACE Durban.  Please join us on the night or else visit the gallery before it closes on 16 July 2011.

‘Onthaal’ refers to a social occasion where friends, acquaintances or a community gather, in many cases it is a celebration of something, or a festivity.  ‘Onthaal’ can also refer to a formal function or reception, an event guided by etiquette principles of how it should be conducted and  structured.  ‘Onthaal’ is to also welcome people.

‘Onthul’ is to reveal something, to point something out, to disclose or to expose something.  It can also mean to lay bare one’s heart.

Onthaal Onthul is a reception that the visitor has been invited to that will reveal the story behind the reception.  The reception a commemoration, celebration and a revelation.

Onthaal Onthul is based on my lived experience and perspective, and is influenced by family discussions especially between my mother and me.  The exhibition delivers commentary on the larger social picture, as well as my personal experiences and story.

You are hereby cordially invited to witness and experience my story.

As a taste of what to expect:

The Beautiful Facade Series.  Jesmonite casts on ceramic plates. 250×250

photographed by Lanel Janse van Vuuren

Jong Afrikaners (“Young Afrikaners”)

Roelof Petrus van Wyk recently produced a series of full colour photographs commenting on contemporary Afrikaners.  I find his work beautiful, direct and honest and it speaks volumes of how the notion of Afrikaner has shifted in the past two decades.  A section from his blog describing his work:

“A Constructed Documentary Project on the Young Afrikaner.

This project Documents the Reclamation of the Afrikaner Identity by the Young Afrikaner Individual. A Massive shift from a State Owned, and Sanctioned, National Identity during Apartheid, to a Self-determined, Narrative, Plural and Personal Identity, steeped in Culture – Language, Music and Visual Arts – has occurred during the last decade. This group finds itself wedged between an inherited Caucasian/ European-, and a new African Nationalist worldview. Weaving these two worldviews into a coherent social-, political- and cultural reality is an ongoing existential challenge.”

Visit his blog: http://roelofvanwyk.wordpress.com/

His work was recently exhibited at Victoria & Albert Museum:

(image sourced from: http://roelofvanwyk.wordpress.com/, accessed 27 April 2011)

To listen to Roelof’s comments on making the work, have a look at this video clip:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/channel/people/photography/figures_and_fictions_roelof_petrus_van_wyk/

Die Nuwe Kerk op Ons Horison (The New Church on Our Horizon)

We took a road trip a few years ago, a brilliant idea of my dearest friend Lisna.   The road trip was complete by listening to real girly tunes, travelling unfamiliar roads with enthusiasm, stopping at petrol stations in strange little towns, with strange names and strange people serving strange food, and of course getting lost.

We were excited about the prospect of experiencing arts and culture in the streets and theatres of Grahamstown (Eastern Cape) followed by the unknown territory of the Klein Karoo and its barren yet beautiful winter landscape, in some areas a spooky, dry, deserted landscape with sheep scattered over the fields.   We stayed in old farmhouses dating back to the 1800′s, with graveyards exhibiting birth dates from the 1700′s, with the sadness of little gravestones in separate sections for the stillborns.  We lived on a farm with an old jail where the slaves were held captive… Our nights consisted of eating ‘lams bredie’ (lambs stew) and drinking really good red wine, telling silly stories in front of the fire.  Tipsy and brave we would explore the graveyards at midnight hoping for some sort of super natural encounter of a once Afrikaner Boer still roaming his land, or most likely the slaves haunting the space that caused them grieve and pain.

We visited many towns, big and small, known and less known; some were hidden in the mountains far away from modern society.  One such place was Nieu Bethesda, known for the peculiar home of Helen Martins, appropriately named the Owl House.  Ms Martins, born 1897, lived a strange life, surrounded by conservative Calvinistic thinkers that were not open to her way of thinking, leaving her to seclude herself and to live and express herself by making her art.

Her craftsman, Koos Malgas, assisted her in making her sculptures, a racial relationship not quite perceived as normal for that time.  Ms Martins lost her sight due to working with fine glass, her signature style, this resulted in her developing a symbiotic relationship with Koos Malgas; the artist (conceptualising the ideas, having a vision) and the craftsman (having skills and translating her vision).

The Owl House was phenomenal, but what struck me were the graveyards and the town layout in Nieu Bethesda.  Firstly, there are about 60 citizens in the main town, and thousands in the township right next to it, with the town as the main ‘job provider’ for the area.  The graveyard for the town is of course a ‘whites only’ graveyard, dating back to the first people that founded the town in the 1800’s.  The town’s graveyard is split in two, I am unsure why but my assumption is based on the dates and the design and material used for the gravestones; there was the really old section, and the newer section divided by a lane of trees.  We walked through the grave yard, where I found a few old Pretorius gravestones, born in the 1700’s, however not related to me.  The gravestone I appreciated most was that of Ms Martins, not for its size but for its authenticity and beauty.  Her gravestone was surrounded by large granite stones, and here lied Ms Martins in a small, almost to be mistaken for a child’s grave, with a modest yet beautifully decorated owl statue as her gravestone, made by Malgas and his people.  In death she was still rejected by her ‘own’ people.

When we explored the township, we discovered their graveyard, where the graves are decorated not by an impressive granite gravestone, but by their most significant belongings, a coffee cup, a pot, a toy, a ceramic ornament.  The people are poor, they can not afford such ‘luxuries’, but I found it so much more appealing and meaningful than a granite gravestone.  To my surprise, we found the grave of Koos Malgas, the only grave with a gravestone.  Just amazing, how his people honoured both him and Ms Martins, disregarding their social boundaries and respecting them as humans and honouring them respectfully in death.

Travelling through the Karoo, it became apparent how the towns were identified by its Churches and church towers.  It was the way the church towers stood out from the horizon indicating and identifying that you are nearing the next town.   The Churches varied in style and its opulence,  some Churches were buildings constructed by the locals using the stones in the area, others such as the Graaff-Reinett Church looks like it belongs in Europe.

Nieu Bethesda had a modest and simple church, one of my favourite images taken on our trip and an inspiration to some of my artworks.

As we travelled through the Karoo, and as we headed back through the Free State we would continue see our next destination marked by a church tower.  Our last stop was Clarence; from there we got onto the highway and made our way back to Durban.  The last church tower I managed to see was in Pietermaritzburg… and then it dawned on me… the towers of The Pavilion.  A huge shopping centre signifying that we have entered and reached Durban.  The church was replaced by the towers of a shopping centre. Welcome to our new world.  Welcome to the new place of worship.  It felt void of spirituality.  I am not really religious, but I do appreciate the beauty and mysticism of a church and cathedral, seeing the Pavilion saddened me in a way, it reminded me of the reality of our world driven by consumerism.  I was sad our trip came to an end, and I immediately longed for the barren and beautiful landscape of the Karoo.

References:

Some of the photographs were taken by Carla Erasmus, have a look at her blog: www.carlaerasmus.blogspot.com

For various sources on Helen Martins, visit: http://www.neurodiversity.com/bio_martins.html

Image of Helen Martins sourced from: http://rivian-shareart.blogspot.com/2010/10/owl-house-helen-martins-extroadinary_09.html