Opening at the KZNSA Gallery on May 2 is the
thought-provoking exhibition Marlene De
Beer: Genealogy.
This project reappraises historical
interpretations of Afrikaner female subjectivity and cultural ideological
representations.
De Beer explains her body of work:
“My work serves as a visual re-storying of
the muted voices of three of my female ancestors, giving voice to some of the
more hidden aspects of their narratives, and forms part of an attempt to establish
a maternal genealogy. Afrikaner women stand accused of enthusiastic
participation in their roles as Volksmoeders. These women’s seeming collusion
with an oppressive and prescriptive patriarchy was largely due to
internalisation of their own ascribed inferior positions as women in a
male-dominated culture.
“I attempt to demonstrate how sublimation,
for women, occurs within a prescriptive patriarchal cultural and social
context, which invalidates the accusation that women might be consciously
colluding in the maintenance of a phallocentric world order. Without adequate
access to sublimatory expression and due to male control of the Symbolic order
of culture and language, an empowered feminine Imaginary has been difficult to
conceptualise, and women thus run the risk of remaining trapped within a
societal Symbolic not of their making. My intention therefore, is to draw
attention to ‘maternal debt’ that has been omitted, due to universal historical
patriarchal interpretations, and to afford voices to the mute women who served
as silent corporeal foils for men.”
Marlene de Beer is a lecturer in Jewellery
Design at the Durban University of Technology. The exhibition forms part of her
PhD degree in Visual Arts at Stellenbosch University and contributes to the
conceptualisation of a feminine Imaginary.
The exhibition will be opened on May 2at
17h30 for 18h00 by Marà Peté, a poet with numerous published solo collections.
She is Senior Lecturer (e-Learning Innovation & Research) in the Centre for
Excellence in Learning and Teaching of the Durban University of Technology. Her
poetry is available at maripete.co.za
Marlene
De Beer: Genealogy will run until May 21. 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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