AFFECT/EFFECT at FADA Gallery UJ, a remarkable exhibition by an exceptional group

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTs Editor

It was at University of Johannesburg Gallery recently when BA Fine Art Honors student Kamogelo Mosehla invited me to a graduate exhibition for the cohort of fine art student at the same institution for which he is a part of. They were going to graduate in two weeks’ time, and as part of their journey to graduation day, they were going to mount a group exhibition. Indeed this exhibition was a big thing for the group. I hesitated, but said yes eventually. Often I try not to attend student exhibitions in the same way I try not to attend a show when it is still in rehearsal, especially if it is a production that I would like to see once it opens proper.

And quite honestly there is nothing wrong about attending student exhibitions as much as there is nothing wrong in seeing a show during its early stages of formation. For me it is just that I prefer a finished product, such as seeing the work of a former student in a commercial gallery space, or watching a theatre piece on its opening night. Put simply, I prefer to witness the magic of the end product, rather than being a p[art of its journey.

But because I had said yes to Kamogelo, and that is that I had made that commitment when we met at the opening of Phumulani Ntuli’s exhibition at UJ Gallery two weeks ago, I therefore found myself at the FADA Gallery at University of Johannesburg on Bunting Road on Monday, October 11, 2024. That is where I found myself among a huge crowd. Among the crowd indeed were other excited fine art students of course there to support the graduating class, their teachers, their parents, friends and friends of friends. It was indeed an occasion to shine for the exhibiting students, whose work is much about their personal environments as it is about the universal themes of identity politics, the struggle to make sense of the world that we are currently experiencing and encountering. It is a world that is ever in a ephemeral mode, keeping on moving, and in the process shifting our way of seeing it, reading it and making sense of it. This continuous shifting of the contemporary world, is well captured by these find art minds through their art works on display. Be it sculptural works, works of fabric, multi-media installations and so forth and so on.

Essentially “AFFECT/EFFECT is a group exhibition of recent artworks by the Honors Visual students at the University of Johannesburg. The title acts as an ode to the interdisciplinary display of practice encompassing sculpture, drawing, printmaking, painting, performance, and other modes of expression. This final culmination of the degree is an expression of the exploration of the artists’ discourse and practice, including themes of deconstruction, counter-narratives, feminisms, exclusion & inclusion, transformation, loss, resilience, and dysfunction. “AFFECT/EFFECT” infers the individual mythologies and methodologies explored in the artists’

framework and the confluence of these conceptual perspectives. Affects signifies emotional responses, feelings, and the psychological impact of experiences. It highlights the intimate and personal dimensions of how oppression affects individuals and communities, emphasizing the emotional and relational aspects of feminist and decolonial struggles. Effect indicates the broader, systemic impacts of colonialism and patriarchy, addressing how these forces manifest in society and culture. The title plays on the duality of cause and effect,” the curators of ths how state.

For Kamogelo, through his art practice, it is a way for him to explore the issue of ancestors, connecting with them through creating art works that he believes bring him closer to them.

“Through my process-based practice, I explore artmaking as a ritual of recollection and connection with my ancestors. The subject of my work derives from the concepts of Motho, Umuntu (the nature of being), ancestry, violence, history, and colonial legacies. The works also delve into the terminologies of dispossession, what it means to be a “black body,” and South African jazz. Jazz is essential to my artmaking process; it sets my language in motion. It’s a language that exists in between represantation and transcendence. I use intuition and dreams to direct myself. When I am fully absorbed in the flow of creativity, I feel something greater than myself has taken hold of me. Badimo ba lleša koša nna ka bena. I understand my works to be that which binds the material and the immaterial together,” Kamogelo explains the ideas that inform his practice.

The participating graduating students are Rose Agwa-Ejoy, Kamogelo Mosehla, Nomvuyo Maseko Emma Alice Coppola, Luifiyah Haffejee, Ngobile Mkari, Tlhokomelo Molokwane, Smiso Cele, Shandre Lummis Rabie and Daneel Thumiran.

It became clear during the opening proceedings that for these students it has not been a walk in the park to have walked and reached this stage. The Head of the Fine Art Department Gordon Froud said it all in capturing the journey these students have walked.

“From a group of 35 selected First Year students, we are now at 2 hands full-only 10 students who have made it to the end of their second degree-an Honours in Visual Art at the University of Johannesburg. We are proud of you and where you have landed. This is a remarkable exhibition by an exceptional group, who we anticipate and hope that more than half of you will graudaute with distinction. We look forward to hearing your names out there in the artworld alongside our previous greats like Robin Rhode, Mary Sibande…Usha Seejarim, Lawrence Lemoana, Lerato Shadi and Jamy Van Zyl, to name but a few,” Froud sad.

.AFFECT/EFFECT is on at FADA Gallery, Bunting Campus, Auckland Park from 11-29 November 2024.