Internationally reputed curator, critic and artist Simon Njami exhibits in Soweto

By Edward Tsumele

Many in the arts around Johannesburg must know Buyaphi Mdledle, and yes, to answer what must be your next question,  the one who is always carrying an old type camera, and one can guess pretty much with predictable precision, that old camera of his, that it must be carrying film during this time when the digital world has taken over. And again am pretty much sure also that he prefers it that way. I am also sure that many must know him as the photographer teacher at Market Photo Workshop, and yes the one who prefers his coffee.

While all these perceptions, presuppositions and maybe, even facts, describe veteran photographer, mentor and photography teacher Buyaphi Mdledle correctly, there is more to this visionary than this. Many who have shared ideas with him, and perhaps even a cup of coffee for the lucky ones that he allows in his coffee culture drinking meditation sessions, there is more to this man than all this.

He actually runs a ‘university’ in his kasie, the township where he was born, which is Klipspruit, technically one of the odd 30 plus townships that constitute the Sprawling South African giant and famous township of Soweto. This school teaches quite a variety of skills, and in one of those few rare occasions that Mdledle is in his element to speak openly about it, he will also tell you that these kids that go to his university, also learn photography skills, basically documenting township life of their immediate environment. There is definitely some kind of revolution taking place at Buyaphi University with regards to imparting knowledge and sowing a seed of education among the young ones growing up in this township, especially because his university is actually in a house where he grew up. It is here where eh share his passion for knowledge and teaching with the young people of Soweto.

In a way, his university is an unusual place, a non conventional school and yet schooling happens there. Neither is it a a gallery, but yet exhibitions happen there.

And art lovers and those that swear to culture as a form of enlightenment will be happy to know that Buyaphi University for the next three weeks, starting this Saturday, September 25, 2021, will be enjoying unprecedented international attention. And this is because top notch artists, part of the touring Impossibility international exhibition will be exhibiting their works, alongside works created by  young artists that Buyaphi University has been training in different skills over the years,  ranging from etiquette skills to photography. That exhibition is taking place from this Saturday, September 25 at 1pm and will run for two weeks.

Among those exhibiting at Impossibility, is internationally acclaimed curator, critic and artists Simon Njami, who will be anchoring this exhibition alongside South African highly respected art photographer Andrew Tshabangu. Believe it or not, this event with such a high international profile is happening in Soweto, at Buyaphi University.

And the choice of this unconventional pace for such a high profile event, is quite deliberate, as the concept of Impossibility is essentially based on exhibiting works of high quality by internationally reputed artists from around the world at venues that you would imagine are incapable of achieving such a feat. This time it is South Africa’s turn to host the exhibition, and the choice of the hosting venue is Buyaphi University in Soweto, after a successful opening in Berlin Germany, on September 11, 2021, and at this stage it may be necessary to have a look back into the background of IM-POSSIBILITY.

The concept designer and initiator Elena Korzhenevich takes us through the journey so far.

“Dear friends, I am beyond happy to finally be able to announce my new project IM-POSSIBILITY. IM-POSSIBILITY is a way to rethink our approach to art and an invitation to experience it and engage with it in a new decentralized manner. An international Tour of happenings will take place around the world in the months of September – November 2021, where 22 international artists from very different backgrounds, cultures and generations will be reflecting on IM-POSSIBILITY. Each work will be presented in its most organic context decided by the artist, outside of the conventional art spaces. It’s a show impossible to see all together, but it’s made possible by every single artist curating their own piece (I am the possibility!), engaging local audiences and communities.

The first happening is taking place today, September 11th in Berlin at DA studio showing the work by the master Theo Eshetu . DA is the new art showroom in Berlin, Mitte including an in-house film production with focus on artists. Given Theo’s pioneering work in video it seems like the most organic place to host his piece. The opening will take place from 8:PM at Gipsstr.

Theo Eshetu’s Atlas Portraits series (stills from the Atlas Fractured video) are a perfect representation of IM-POSSIBILITY. The work is challenging the idea of a fixed cultural identity and labels often attached to it. By projecting images from different cultures, religions, ethnicities, historical epochs, over a face, Eshetu underlines the impossibility of a linear definition of the “I”, instead opening up to a possibility of multitude, polyphony and fluidity that can create much more nuanced, complex and unexpected stories. A new personal Atlas free of cultural, political or geographical boundaries.

Theo Eshetu remarks: “Cultural identities cannot be fixed and defined. They are in constant flux, created and molded by political projections, erected and destroyed by historical events, and fluctuate with the displacement of cultural objects and the migration of populations. We can only define the now—and the now is grotesque, uncertain, and burdened by the ghosts of the past. Yet there is also beauty in the present, a vitality for new justices, a search for new harmonies, and, contrary to facile political tendencies, acceptance and desire for hybrid states hitherto unknown.”

Find out more about the project and participating artist on im-possibility.com, designed by the multi-talented Amira Parree.

My enormous thank you goes to all the participating artists who have accepted my invitation, have accompanied me on this journey so far and are making this possible, step by step. Joel Andrianomearisoa Dimitri Fagbohoun Beya Gille Gacha Pélagie Gbaguidi Mwangi Hutter Mouna Karray Susan Kleinberg Rachel Marks Radenko Milak Fabrice Monteiro Atelier Lerato Shadi Moataz Nasreldin Simon Njami Gosha Ostretsov Amira Parree Maurice Pefura Émilie Régnier Astrid Staes Neville Starling Andrew Tshabangu Vincent Witomski

There you have it. And If you would like to witness the South African version of this travelling international concept of how to view, consume and think of art in a non conventional fashion and at non conventional venues, then Buyaphi University is the place to be on Saturday, September 25, 2021 and enjoy IM-POSSIBILITY exhibition.

.Impossibility opens on Saturday, 25 September, 2021,  at No.890 Marime Street, Klipspruit, Soweto.