Photographer Thina Zibi opened her solo exhibition at the Agog Gallery in Maboneng (Johannesburg) on the 3rd of August ,the exhibition titled "Andindedwa" is running until the end of August.
In giving insight into the photo series, Zibi explains, "this photo series aims to relook at the idea of African spirituality and reconsiders it as a viable practice for understanding where and how we are embedded in this world. In some way, I confronts the existence of this other world, parallel or protruding into, ours."
"My confrontation is coloured with my own surprise and confusion at the discovery of this world as I examine it, and perhaps try to reclaim, a spiritual identity and practice that is lost with many contemporary Africans."
She further states, "the images borrow cues from "ukuhlanjwa" (spiritual cleansing). During this practice one is usually asked by their traditional healer to slaughter chickens in order to relieve themselves from malicious energy or to appease the ancestors. The photography is not a linear translation of how this is done exactly. The imagery plays with chicken body parts, blood, the bath (deliberately a modern design) to create a stylised, metaphoric rendition of "ukuhlanjwa"."
The Andindedwa Exhibition will be complemented with installations by Tshego Khutsoane (on the 9th of August). Tshego is a creative practitioner in the performance arts sector who majored in Directing, Acting, Contemporary Performance and Applied Theatre at Rhodes University.
Credits:
Photography: Thina Zibi