Annie Coombes makes a stop in Jo'burg to discuss her
recent book on SA
by Kresta Tyler Johnson
Anyone fortunate enough to be at Die Boekhuis in Melville on Saturday, September 4 would have been treated to a discussion between British art historian Annie Coombes and South African artist and academic Penny Siopis about Coombes' book, After Apartheid: Visual Culture and Public Memory in a Democratic South Africa'. The exchange took place in front of an audience of artists, art historians, architects and others.
The dialogue that ensued examined numerous aspects of the book. Siopis first commented on the ability of an 'outsider' to investigate and write about the history of South Africa. She noted that Coombes 'had been able to get under the skin of a situation and describe a deeper experience, which is very rare for an outsider'.
Coombes responded that it was a 'difficult book to write both as an outsider and (bcause) the history is painful'. She explained the layout of her book and the use of case studies saying she 'wanted an accessible narrative that was also useful. The structure (of the book) allows maintenance of the complexity and density (of the history) with the use of case studies.'
Coombes described how her selection of particular artists' work provided her with a unique manner in which to turn the context of the political and social struggles in South Africa into a 'reflexive engagement with a bigger historical narrative'. Coombes was emphatic that while there is a specific orientation in the work of South African artists, there is also a connection to similar struggles that occur elsewhere in the world. All too often South African artists are viewed through a purely South African telescope, with their work judged byo that criteria and not considered in a universal context.
Another area Coombes explores in her book is the idea and use of nostalgia in the work of some artists, particularly in her investigation of artists in the District Six museum. As Siopis noted, nostalgia is all too often associated with 'negative, critical writing. Annie uses it in another way and reconsiders the meaning'.
Coombes commented that 'so often nostalgia is used as a way of editing out difficult histories and complicated relations. It becomes a rarification and the texture of life as represented through specific objects' as in the case of the exhibits at the District Six museum. It was important for her to engage with the histories and meanings of the objects to convey the accurate historical account of the experiences of individuals during that period.
She continued saying that 'so much work now all over prioritises new media. Actually I believe you miss an awful lot if you don't understand how people connect to objects'. She added that a danger exists 'with slicker, new media work because it becomes subsumed into global post-modernism'.
Die Boekhuis is an independent bookshop located in Melville, Johannesburg, offering a wide array of books especially focused on South Africa. It is definitely worth stopping in at least to see what lectures are ahead.
