Current Review(s)
Cultureless Purity
Khaya Sineyile at blank projectsKhaya Sineyile was born in the early 1980’s which means, as anyone who grew up in the township like he did can attest to, that he was raised by either a grandmother or at the very least by a woman. Sineyile’s exhibition ‘Abahananasi Abangcwele’ captures the drama of this in the mind of a post-apartheid South Africa that refuses to detach itself from the township’s parochialism that characterized the poverty of the heart, mind and souls of its residents. It is an exhibition that portrays the spiritual cleavage of a pre-colonial experience and the conceptions of an African spirituality by the generations that have succeeded those who where colonized. The honesty of the work communicates the discourse of identity that is never divorced from its formation.
22 July 2014 - 09 August 2014
Listings(s)
'Rewind'
Khaya Sineyile at AVAKhaya Sinyile presents Rewind in the Artsstrip. When your arm stretched over your head, can touch your ear, then you can go to school. Throw your baby teeth onto the roof of the house, and then your grand mother will bring you new ones. These are the transient processes, child hood rituals, games and stories Sineyile remembers from his youth. Rewind is a body of paintings that rework the stylised visual language of the cartoons Sineyile watched as a child. Through this series of paintings, Sineyile rewinds, retells and reviews remembrances from a childhood passed with wit, whimsy and humour.
07 May 2012 - 01 June 2012
'Abahananasi Abangcwele'
Khaya Sineyile at blank projectsIt is impossible to be in any of South Africa’s many townships on a Sunday morning without spotting the ubiquitous uniform worn by members of the Wesleyan Methodist church’s mothers union; a uniform dominated by the bright red jacket which signifies the blood of Christ, worn with a black skirt symbolizing sin, and a white hat signifying the purity of the woman. These women are commonly known as oomama bebhatyi (literally, 'the mothers of the jacket' or 'the jacketed mothers'). If you listen closely, you may also catch some of the men say 'Oomama bebhatyi bayathakatha. Umkhonza njani uNkulunkulu?' (loosely translated as, 'the women who belong to these mothers unions are witches. How do they serve god?'), a statement that tells of a belief among some that the women who belong to these mothers unions also practice witchcraft and are therefore hypocrites, presenting holy facades with their red jackets whilst dabbling in evil practices behind closed doors.
Khaya Sineyile explores this idea of hypocrisy in a series of paintings depicting these 'oomama bebhatyi'. The women are depicted holding owls, wearing shoes that are too big for them and clutching knives – all images that, according to the artist, allude to acts of witchcraft. These paintings are executed by Sineyile's assured hand with a rawness that contrasts with the cartoon-like outlines; a device which removes the figures from their ground and introduces an element of playfulness to the otherwise loaded subject matter.
In this body of work, Sineyile examines and comments on the clashing and merging of traditional South African culture and Christian beliefs. Of central importance to the artist is the telling of the story about faction-fighting for positions of prestige in the churches; including the use of witchcraft as weaponry in these fights, mutilation and the ritualistic use of body parts in witchcraft.
22 July 2014 - 09 August 2014
