CHRIS THURMAN: A utopia that gives voice to beautiful outcasts
Simphiwe Ndzube’s exhibition depicts a society of equals in a fictionalised Gwadana
We had to tell ourselves that 2021 would be better, because that was the only way of getting through 2020. But inevitably, the grim weirdness of last year has bled into the early weeks of this year — a bleak segue. Yes, Joe Biden will soon be US president and yes, we’ll eventually get vaccinated against Covid-19 and yes, SA’s economy will emerge from recession; but it remains to be seen how deeply the local and global dystopian seeds have been planted.
If you are in need of a utopian boost, make a booking to see Simphiwe Ndzube’s exhibition The Fantastic Ride to Gwadana at Stevenson in Johannesburg, or visit the gallery’s online viewing room. Be warned: Ndzube’s utopianism is not an escape from poverty, or ill health, or environmental degradation. Rather, his fictionalised Gwadana, populated by those he calls the “Mine Moon” people, is a place where those who have been ostracised and persecuted make their own society in which they are “finally celebrated as equals”...
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