(Above: “Pandora’s Box” (2022) by Andrea Walters. The “#OverMyDeadBody” exhibition comprises 50 Sunlight soap sculptures of the mouths of the silenced women)
In South Africa, there is a cross-cultural perception that it is acceptable for a man to punish a woman through violence or even death.
Artist Andrea Walters presents a multimedia exhibition at the Durban Art Gallery honouring the women murdered by their partners, entitled #OverMyDeadBody, which opens on March 3, 2022, at noon, and runs until end of May.
The #OverMyDeadBody exhibition comprises 50 Sunlight soap sculptures of the mouths of the silenced women resting on transparent shelves and a suspended death shroud. It includes an audiovisual performance and domestic items that refer to intimacy, sexuality and violence.
“My strategies that honour femicide victims are influenced by my experience of intimate partner violence (IPV), since memories are activated by domestic objects. The #OverMyDeadBody exhibition attempts to counter the ongoing perception that it is acceptable for a man to punish a woman through violence or death. I believe that when women survivors see artwork on IPV, it provokes an instinctive response: they remember because they cannot forget,” says Walters.
“My creative process began by gathering data and images of SA femicide victims through the media. I sought materials that would best represent women across socio-economic boundaries, since femicide affects all cultural and racial groups. I decided to sculpt their mouths on Sunlight soap bars found in most households, and used in some cultures to prepare bodies for burial. My mother’s passing inspired a death shroud embroidered with the victims’ names. Practical experimentation led to other works in this exhibition. I hope to engage the viewer in a participatory role by supplying additional soaps and carving tools. I hope that ‘something’ happens between the viewer and the artwork, evoking individual emotional responses such as grief, empathy or pain,” she said.
Walters will conduct interactive walkabouts for the public, as well as with school learners.
The Durban Art Gallery is located on the second floor of City Hall, Anton Lembede Street, Central Durban. It is open from 09h00 to 15h30 during the week, and 09h00 to 12h00 on Saturdays. For more information contact 031 311 2264/9
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