Is Heaven a Democracy?
Xhanti Zwelendaba
Medium:
Vinyl on Toyota HiAce Rear Windshield, 2022
Dimensions:
62 x 130 cm
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ABOUT XHANTI ZWELENDABA
Xhanti Zwelendaba is a multi-disciplinary artist working in a diverse range of mediums
such as sculpting, print-making, installation, performance art and video art. Zwelendaba’s work deals primarily with the complexities and tensions surrounding Xhosa culture and the modern day culture of contemporary capitalism and nationalism – and embedded within these is the legacy of colonialism and apartheid. This pursuance is largely spurred on by having to balance in-between these cultural paradigms, often simultaneously.
Each of his works stand as a testimony for interrogating his identity and the collective identities of Black people living in South Africa. Through collaboration and usage of diverse materials, each idea is given the opportunity to present its nuances in a unique manner. By regularly contributing and participating in the development, processes and practices of his curiosities, Zwelendaba has overtly committed to pursuing an art practice within a decolonial paradigm, which is constantly pushing the boundaries and limits of art making from the African continent within the contemporary art sphere, which is still a largely western European dominated industry.
Group Exhibitions
2022 ‘A Point of Departure’, Curated by Christina Fortune, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa
2021 ‘Autumn Salon’, Gallery Fanon, Johannesburg, South Africa
‘Space and Place’, Galarie Eigen, Berlin, Germany
‘Tongues’, The Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
‘Turbine Art Fair Featured Artist’, Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa
2020 ‘Everard Read Franschhoek Gallery Opening’, Everard Read, Cape Town,
South Africa
2019 ‘Familial Threads’, Museum of African Design, Johannesburg, South Africa
2018 ‘Investec Cape Town Art Fair’, Cape Town, South Africa
‘Amaqaba vol. 1’ (in collaboration with Inga Somdyala), Eclectica Contemporary,
Cape Town, South Africa
2017 ‘Everyday Anomaly’, WHATIFTHEWORLD GALLERY, Cape Town, South Africa
2016 ‘Chamber of Mines’, (in collaboration with Rowan Smith), WHATIFTHEWORLD GALLERY, Cape Town, South Africa
Projects
2022 Residency at Leipzig International Art Programme, Germany
PCSA: The Surreal Landscape, David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, South Africa
2017 Open Laboratory, Nirox Sculpture Park, Krugersdorp, South Africa
2016 Sasol New Signatures, Pretoria Arts Association