Living sculptures that stand for history's truths | Sethembile Msezane

Prevodilac: Mirjana Čutura Lektor: Tijana Mihajlović

I'd like for you to take a moment to imagine this with me.

Želela bih da na trenutak zamislite ovo sa mnom.

You're a little girl of five years old.

Mala ste petogodišnja devojčica.

Sitting in front of a mirror,

Dok sedite ispred ogledala,

you ask yourself,

pitate se:

"Do I exist?"

„Da li postojim?“

In this space, there is very little context,

U ovom prostoru ima veoma malo konteksta,

and so you move into a different one,

tako da se pomerate u drugačiji -

one filled with people.

kontekst ispunjen ljudima.

Surely, now you know you're not a figment of your own imagination.

Zasigurno, sada znate da niste izmišljotina sopstvene mašte.

You breathe their air.

Udišete njihov vazduh.

You see them,

Vidite ih,

so they must see you.

pa mora biti da i oni vide vas.

And yet, you still can't help but wonder:

Ipak, ne možete a da se ne zapitate:

Do I only exist when people speak to me?

„Da li postojim samo kada mi se ljudi obraćaju?“

Pretty heavy thoughts for a child, right?

Prilično teške misli za jedno dete, zar ne?

But through various artworks that reflect upon our society,

Međutim, kroz raznovrsna umetnička dela koja odražavaju naše društvo,

I came to understand how a young black girl can grow up

shvatila sam kako mala crna devojčica može odrasti

feeling as if she's not seen, and perhaps she doesn't exist.

osećajući kao da je neprimećena ili da možda ne postoji.

You see, if young people don't have positive images of themselves

Vidite, ako mladi ljudi nemaju pozitivnu sliku o sebi

and all that remains are negative stereotypes,

i ako su negativni stereotipi sve što preostaje,

to utiče na sliku o njima samima.

this affects their self-image.

But it also affects the way that the rest of society treats them.

Ali, to takođe utiče na način na koji se ostatak društva ponaša prema njima.

I discovered this

Ovo sam otkrila dok sam živela u Kejptaunu oko pet godina u to vreme.

having lived in Cape Town for about five years at the time.

I felt a deep sense of dislocation and invisibility.

Imala sam dubok osećaj nepripadanja i nevidljivosti.

I couldn't see myself represented.

Nisam mogla da vidim da sam bila predstavljena.

I couldn't see the women who've raised me,

Nisam mogla da vidim žene koje su me odgojile,

one koje su uticale na mene

the ones who've influenced me,

and the ones that have made South Africa what it is today.

i one koje su učinile Južnu Afriku onim što je danas.

I decided to do something about it.

Odlučila sam da uradim nešto po tom pitanju.

What do you think when you see this?

Šta mislite kada vidite ovo?

If you were a black girl,

Da ste crna devojčica,

how would it make you feel?

kako biste se osećali?

Walking down the street,

Šetajući ulicom,

what does the city you live in say to you?

šta vam grad u kojem živite govori?

What symbols are present?

Koji simboli su prisutni?

Which histories are celebrated?

Koje istorije se proslavljaju?

And on the other hand,

A, sa druge strane,

which ones are omitted?

koje su izostavljene?

You see, public spaces are hardly ever as neutral as they may seem.

Vidite, javna mesta su jedva ikada neutralna kao što možda izgledaju.

I discovered this when I made this performance in 2013 on Heritage Day.

Otkrila sam ovo kada sam imala izvedbu 2013. godine na Dan nasleđa.

Cape Town is teeming with masculine architecture,

Kejptaun je prepun arhitekture, spomenika i statua posvećenih muškarcima,

monuments and statues,

such as Louis Botha in that photograph.

kao što je Luis Bota na ovoj fotografiji.

This overt presence of white colonial and Afrikaner nationalist men

Ovo očito prisustvo muških belih kolonizatora i afrikanerskih nacionalista

not only echoes a social, gender and racial divide,

ne samo da potvrđuje društvenu, polnu i rasnu podeljenost,

but it also continues to affect the way that women --

već takođe i nastavlja da utiče na način na koji žene -

and the way, particularly, black women --

naročito crne žene -

see themselves in relation to dominant male figures

vide sebe u odnosu

na dominantne muške figure na javnim mestima.

in public spaces.

For this reason, among others,

Zbog ovog razloga, između ostalih,

I don't believe that we need statues.

ne mislim da su nam statue potrebne.

The preservation of history and the act of remembering

Očuvanje istorije i čin sećanja

can be achieved in more memorable and effective ways.

se može postići na znamenitije i efektivnije načine.

As part of a year-long public holiday series,

Kao deo jednogodišnje serije tokom državnih praznika

I use performance art as a form of social commentary

koristim umetnost performansa kao oblik društvenog komentara

to draw people's attention to certain issues,

da skrenem pažnju ljudi na određene probleme,

as well as addressing the absence of the black female body

kao i da se pozabavim nedostatkom crnog ženskog tela

in memorialized public spaces,

na ovekovečenim javnim mestima,

especially on public holidays.

naročito u vreme državnih praznika.

Women's Day was coming up.

Dan žena se približavao.

I looked at what the day means --

Istražila sam šta taj dan znači -

the Women's March to the union buildings in 1956,

marš žena na zgrade vlade 1956. godine

petitioning against the pass laws.

koje podnose peticiju protiv zakona o segregaciji.

Juxtaposed with the hypocrisy of how women are treated,

Zajedno sa licemerjem u ophođenju prema ženama,

especially in public spaces today,

naročito na javnim mestima u sadašnje vreme,

I decided to do something about it.

odlučila sam da učinim nešto po tom pitanju.

Headline:

Naslov:

[Women in miniskirt attacked at taxi rank]

[Žena u mini suknji napadnuta na taksi stajalištu.]

How do I comment on such polar opposites?

Kako da reagujem na takve potpune suprotnosti?

In the guise of my great-grandmother,

Prerušena u svoju prabaku,

I performed bare-breasted,

nastupila sam golih grudi

close to the taxi rank in KwaLanga.

u blizini taksi stajališta u Kvalangi.

This space is also called Freedom Square,

Ovaj prostor se takođe zove Trg slobode,

where women were a part of demonstrations against apartheid laws.

gde su žene bile deo demonstracija protiv aparthejda.

I was not comfortable with women being seen as only victims in society.

Nije mi prijalo da se žene doživljavaju jedino kao žrtve u društvu.

You might wonder how people reacted to this.

Možda se pitate kako su ljudi reagovali na ovo.

(Video) Woman: (Cheering)

(Video) Žena: (Kliče)

Woman 2 (offscreen): Yes!

Žena 2 (van ekrana): Da!

Sethembile Msezane: Pretty cool, huh?

Setembel Misezan: Prilično kul, zar ne?

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

So I realized that through my performances,

Shvatila sam da svojim nastupima

I've been able to make regular people reflect upon their society,

mogu da nateram obične ljude da kritički razmisle o svom društvu,

looking at the past as well as the current democracy.

sagledavajući kako prošlu tako i sadašnju demokratiju.

(Video) Man (offscreen): She's been there since three o'clock.

(Video) Čovek (van ekrana): Ovde je od tri sata.

Čovek 2 (van ekrana): Od nešto pre tri. Oko sat vremena nepomična?

Man 2 (offscreen): Just before three. About an hour still?

Man 1: Yeah. It's just a really hot day.

Čovek 1: Da. Zaista je topao dan.

Man 1: It's very interesting.

Čovek 1: Veoma je zanimljivo.

It's very powerful.

Veoma je moćno.

I think it's cool.

Mislim da je odlično.

I think a lot of people are quick to join a group

Mislim da je mnogo ljudi spremno da se brzo pridruži grupi

that's a movement towards something,

koja je pokret ka nečemu,

but not many people are ready to do something as an individual.

ali nisu mnogi spremni da urade nešto kao pojedinci.

Man 2: So it's the individual versus the collective.

Čovek 1: Dakle, u pitanju je pojedinac protiv grupe.

Man 1: Yeah.

Čovek 2: Da.

So I think her pushing her own individual message in performance ...

Mislim da njeno forsiranje lične poruke u nastupu...

it's powerful.

moćno je.

Yeah, I think it's quite powerful that she's doing it on her own.

Da, mislim da je prilično moćno da to radi sama.

I'd be interested to know why she's using hair extensions as wings,

Zanimalo bi me da znam zašto koristi umetke kose kao krila

or whatever those things are meant to be.

ili šta god te stvari treba da budu.

They are wings, yes?

To su krila, zar ne?

Woman 3: With her standing there right now,

Žena 3: Time što ona upravo sada stoji tamo,

I think it's just my interpretation

mislim, a to je samo moja interpretacija,

that we are bringing the statue down

da uklanjamo tu statuu

and bringing up something

i uzdižemo nešto

that's supposed to represent African pride, I think.

što treba da predstavlja ponos Afrike, mislim.

Or something like that.

Ili nešto tako.

Something should stand while Rhodes falls,

Nešto treba da stoji dok Rouds pada.

Mislim da ona to poručuje. Da.

I think that's what it's saying. Yeah.

Yes. Thank you.

Da. Hvala.

Man 3: What is behind me represents the African culture.

Čovek 3: Ono što je iza mene predstavlja afričku kulturu.

We can't have the colonialist law,

Ne možemo imati kolonijalni zakon,

so we need to remove all these colonial statues.

tako da moramo ukloniti sve ove kolonijalne statue.

We have have our own statues now,

Mi sada imamo svoje sopstvene statue,

our African leaders -- Bhambatha, Moshoeshoe, Kwame Nkrumah --

naše afričke vođe: Bambatu, Mušešea, Kvam Kruma -

sve one koji su platili svojim životima za naše oslobođenje.

all those who paid their lives for our liberation.

We can't continue in the 21st century,

Ne možemo nastaviti u 21. veku

and after 21 years of democracy,

i posle 21 godine demokratije

have the colonizers in our own country.

da imamo kolonizatore u našoj državi.

They belong somewhere. Maybe in a museum; not here.

Oni pripadaju negde. Možda u muzeju; ne ovde.

I mean learning institutions, places where young people,

Mislim na ustanove učenja, mesta gde se mladi ljudi,

young minds are being shaped.

mladi umovi oblikuju.

So we cannot continue to have Louis Botha, Rhodes, all these people,

Stoga ne možemo nastaviti da imamo Luisa Botu, Roudsa, sve ove ljude

because they're representing the colonialism.

jer oni predstavljaju kolonijalizam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Sethembile Msezane: On April 9, 2015,

SM: Dana 9. aprila 2015. godine

the Cecil John Rhodes statue was scheduled to be removed

planirano je uklanjanje statue Džona Sesila Roudsa

after a month of debates for and against its removal

nakon jednomesečne debate za i protiv uklanjanja

od strane raznih zainteresovanih strana.

by various stakeholders.

This caused a widespread interest in statues in South Africa.

Ovo je prouzrokovalo rasprostranjeno interesovanje za statue u Južnoj Africi.

Opinions varied, but the media focused on problematizing

Mišljenja su bila različita, ali su se mediji usredsredili

na problematizovanje ukljanjanja statua.

the removal of statues.

On that -- well, that year, I had just begun my master's

Te godine sam počela magistarske studije

at the University of Cape Town.

na univerzitetu u Kejptaunu.

During the time of the debate of the statue,

U vreme debate oko statua

I had been having reoccurring dreams

ponavljali su mi se snovi

about a bird.

o ptici,

And so I started conjuring her

te sam počela da je prizivam

mentally, spiritually and through dress.

mentalno, duhovno i načinom oblačenja.

On that day,

Tog dana,

I happened to be having a meeting with my supervisors,

desilo se da sam imala sastanak sa svojim mentorima

and they told me that the statue was going to fall on that day.

i oni su mi rekli da će statua pasti tog dana.

I told them that I'd explain later,

Rekla sam im da ću objasniti kasnije,

but we had to postpone the meeting

ali da smo morali da odložimo sastanak

because I was going to perform her as the statue came down.

jer sam planirala izvedbu ptice za vreme uklanjanja statue.

Her name was Chapungu.

Njeno ime je bilo Čepungu.

She was a soapstone bird that was looted from Great Zimbabwe

Bila je ptica od krečnjaka ukradena kao ratni plen iz grada Velikog Zimbabvea

in the late 1800s,

krajem 19. veka,

and is still currently housed in Cecil John Rhodes's estate

a i dalje se nalazi na imanju Džona Sesila Roudsa u Kejptaunu.

in Cape Town.

On that day,

Toga dana sam otelovila njeno postojanje koristeći svoje telo

I embodied her existence using my body,

while standing in the blazing sun for nearly four hours.

dok sam stajala na gorućem suncu skoro četiri sata.

Kada je došlo vreme,

As the time came,

the crane came alive.

kran je oživeo.

The people did, too --

Takođe su i ljudi -

shouting,

vikali su,

vrištali su,

screaming,

clenching their fists

stiskali su pesnice

and taking pictures of the moment on their phones and cameras.

i fotografisali su taj momenat telefonima i foto-aparatima.

Chapungu's wings,

Čepungina krila su se,

along with the crane,

zajedno sa kranom,

rose to declare the fall of Cecil John Rhodes.

raširila da proglase pad Džona Sesila Roudsa.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Euphoria filled the air as he became absent from his base,

Euforija je ispunila vazduh kada je on nestao za postolja

while she remained still,

dok je ona ostala nepomična,

very present,

veoma prisutna

half an hour after his removal.

pola sata nakon njegovog uklanjanja.

Twenty-three years after apartheid,

Dvadeset tri godine nakon aparthejda,

a new generation of radicals has arisen in South Africa.

nova generacija radikala se uzdigla u Južnoj Africi.

The story of Chapungu and Rhodes in the same space and time

Priča o Čepungu i Roudsu na istom mestu u isto vreme

asks important questions

postavlja mnoga pitanja

related to gender,

vezana za pol,

power,

moć,

self-representation,

samopredstavljanje,

history making

pravljenje istorije

and repatriation.

i repatrijaciju.

Nakon toga sam shvatila

From then on,

I realized that my spiritual beliefs and dreams

da moja duhovna verovanja i snovi

texture my material reality.

oslikavaju moju materijalnu stvarnost.

But for me, Chapungu's story felt incomplete.

Međutim, za mene, Čepungina priča je delovala nedovršeno.

This soapstone bird,

Ovoj ptici od krečnjaka,

a spiritual medium and messenger of God and the ancestors,

duhovnom mediju i glasniku bogova i predaka,

needed me to continue her story.

sam trebala da nastavim njenu priču.

And so I dabbled in the dream space a little bit more,

Stoga sam se još malo pozabavila snovima

and this is how "Falling" was born.

i tako je rođeno „Padanje“.

[A film by Sethembile Msezane]

[Film Setembel Misezan]

(Video) (A capella singing)

(Video) (Pevanje bez muzike)

[FALLING]

[Padanje]

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

In the film,

U filmu Zimbabve, Južna Afrika i Nemačka dele zajedničku priču

Zimbabwe, South Africa and Germany share a common story

about the soapstone birds that were looted from Great Zimbabwe.

o pticama od krečnjaka ukradenim kao ratni plen iz grada Velikog Zimbabvea.

After Zimbabwe gained its independence,

Nakon što je Zimbabve stekao nezavisnost,

all the birds except for one were returned to the monument.

sve ptice osim jedne su vraćene na spomenik.

"Falling" explores the mythological belief that there will be unrest

„Padanje“ ispituje mitološko verovanje da će biti nereda

until the final bird is returned.

dok se poslednja ptica ne vrati.

Through my work,

Kroz svoj rad

I have realized a lot about the world around me:

shvatila sam puno o svetu oko sebe:

how we move through spaces,

kako se krećemo kroz prostore,

who we choose to celebrate

koga biramo da slavimo

and who we remember.

i koga se sećamo.

Now I look in the mirror and not only see an image of myself,

Sada gledam u ogledalo i ne vidim samo svoj lik

but of the women who have made me who I am today.

već i likove žena koje su me učinile onakvom kakva sam danas.

I stand tall in my work,

Stojim uspravno u svom radu

celebrating women's histories,

slaveći istorije žena

u nadi da možda jednoga dana

in the hope that perhaps one day,

no little black girl has to ever feel

nijedna mala crna devojčica neće nikada morati da se oseća

like she doesn't exist.

kao da ne pripada.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)