(Mixed
medium close-ups of street vendor life by Xolani Qwabe)
Xolani Hopewell Qwabe is an exciting young
artist using mixed medium close-ups illustrating street vendor life. His work
will be exhibited in the KZNSA’s Mezzanine Gallery with Augmented In The Streets, a body of mixed media work exploring the
realities and details of street vendors' lives.
The artist’s statement is as follows:
“My work is inspired by the lives of street
vendors in Durban urban spaces.
I investigate how both South Africans and
foreign immigrants who move to the city negotiate the norms in attempting to
become financially self-sufficient.
In my work I also interrogate the
mainstream of how do street hawkers create informal settlements within the
city. I go to the inner city to identify and interview the vendors directly as
I get a lot different and similar issues on how these people chose to live
their lives as street vendors.
My investigation also tells me that, to a
large extent, one can perceive street vending as an act of defiance against the
city’s authorities who have in some way neglected hawkers by keeping them
marginalized.
I am also informed by my own teenage
experiences where I had to support myself as I was raised by a domestic worker
single parent. Most of these street vendors are supporting their large families
and paying school fees for their children with the little that they make in the
streets, resulting from unemployment in this country.
Most job advertisements in the newspapers
state that you have to “have experience before you get a job of your
qualification”. Some of these street hawkers have Degrees and Diplomas but they
cannot get employed and they ended up in the streets business rather than
choosing crime which I personally find a positive path.
Street vendors can be identified as icons
of the city since they are everywhere, forming a large part of the pulse of the
city. My investigation of these issues is enacted through the construction and
the use of a mixed mediums. The creation and maintenance of my work can be
understood as one large artwork, made up of many parts, each of which focuses
on different aspects of the street vendor’s life.”
Augmented
In The Streets runs in the KZNSA from April 11 to
30 alongside the KZN Clay Vessels
exhibition. Walkabouts of both exhibitions take place on April 15 at 10h00.
The
KZNSA Gallery is situated at 166 Bulwer
Road, Glenwood, in Durban. More information on 031 277 1705, fax
031 201 8051 or cell 082 220 0368 or visit www.kznsagallery.co.za
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