Johannesburg 89plus Workshop

(b. Soweto, South Africa, 1993) Neo created ‘Hlasko‘, his pseudonym for his electronic music, during his last year of high school. The work he has created is a layered audible feast, skilfully using electronic production to develop an eerie and haunting musical practice.

(b. Johannesburg, South Africa, 1991) Megan's practice explores performance art within art institutions and its order. Her works are subtle and interactive; exploring the function and role of the public and audience in scenarios that she creates through her practice.

Wang' Thola is an artist-run initiative comprised of nine artists from various cultures and backgrounds. The weekly group discussions they hold relate to generating and curating the history of the present.

(b. Boksburg, South Africa, 1994) Nonkululeko Mthunzi aka ‘Sicka Star-ban Jones’ is an LGBTI activist, artist and musician. She is also a hip hop events organiser and writes articles about her journey and personal life through ‘Inkanyiso', an online platform for positive LGBTI storytelling initiated by visual activist Zanele Muholi. Through the use of different artistic platforms, Mthunzi’s collective works delves into the concept of sexuality, gender and her personal journey.

(b. Johannesburg, South Africa, 1992) Quadling and Tan’s practice relies on narrative, often science-fiction inspired, process-based projects. Their works have taken form as catalogues, detailing the extensive unfolding of one idea manifesting into many different, connecting works.

(b. Johannesburg, South Africa, 1989) Mbali Khoza uses solo and collaborative works to investigate the use of authorship in language and literature, and the voice of the author. Her work is minimal with volatile content, and challenges the power the English language holds against indigenous languages in southern Africa.

(b. Katlehong, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1995) As a documentary photographer, Lindokuhle Sobekwa’s work focuses mainly on socially engaged projects—the issues affecting township communities. Intimately capturing poverty and addiction, Sobekwa has developed a practice revealing the effect of destitution in communities.

Sangqu is an African Literature Major at Wits University. He is keenly interested in the notion of ‘present future’, particularly for post-apartheid era, post-rainbow-nation  young South Africans. He writes about and experiments in storytelling of  ‘the personal’ when disconnected from the lens of social media.

(b. Nababeep, South Africa, 1991) Mitchell’s art involves installation and performance, creating spaces and objects involving humour and absurdism to create engaging and critical works.

(b. Randfontein, South Africa, 1993) Nyakallo’s practice involves an observational and intuitive process to explore social, political and personal narratives of the everyday. She is a multidisciplinary artist who works with installation, video, printmaking and sound. Viewing the installation and de-installation as performative qualities to each individual work, her works are critical and quirky responses to current social issues in South Africa.

(b. Ballitoville, South Africa, 1990) Andile Brian Phewa documents his community and environs of Durban, Kwa Zulu Natal. His images intimately capture the lives of his subjects, and his complicity as an image-maker to build trust with his participants. At times shot in low light, the images evidence the general electricity shortages commonly known as load shedding—a reality of life in contemporary South Africa.

(b. Johannesburg, South Africa, 1989) Mika Conradie is a researcher and curator preoccupied with plant-thinking, rhythmanalysis, decolonial spatial practice and collective social infrastructures in Johannesburg.

(b. Cradock, Lingelihle, South Africa, 1989) Sibahle Nkumbi studied filmmaking at Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking, Cape Town. She is a filmmaker, writer and a vernacular poet. Nkumbi has worked closely with LGBTI visual activist Zanele Muholi, as a contributing voice and writer for online platform Inkanyiso.

(b. Soweto, South Africa, 1990) Mbali is a multidisciplinary artist and coordinator. She performs visual, tactile and discursive investigations into current indigenous cultural practices. With a view towards decolonized practices in contemporary culture, her work is in constant conversation with her past and present visual landscapes.

The interdisciplinary, independent library and media arts project hosted the 89plus Johannesburg workshop held in August 2015.