IF YOU have seen visual artist Senzeni Marasela in recent months, you might have believed that something has gone wrong with her — she is always wearing the same clothes.
Don’t worry, the sister has not gone insane. In fact she is very conscious of what she is doing by wearing daily the traditional clothes known as seshoeshoe, closely associated with people from Lesotho.
"This is Theodorah Hlongwane, named after my mother. She has always been around this character, my alter ego. Because I am in character (wearing the same looking dress everyday). I am a state of perpetual performance. That ensures that I am this constant presence. So in a way I do provoke reaction and seek out people to engage with. But, like everyone, we need to eat, pay bills. It is important that our passion supports our livelihood," says Marasela.
Her work is part of an exhibition on women on at Imba Ya Sarai art shop in Moboneng, eastern Johannesburg, until September 19.
The government campaigns during the month of August to commemorate women’s contribution to ending apartheid and to highlight the abuse of women and children.
"In the exhibition there are four linocuts. I am working on a series of self portraits about Theodorah. So in a way it is part of the larger work. To make Theodorah visible and available to many people. It is also to look at what happens to women who ‘wait without duration’," she says, quoting Njabulo Ndebele’s The Cry of Winnie Mandela.
In this part-documentary, part-novel, Ndebele explores the experience of the thousands of South African women who waited for their men due to the migrant labour system, political exile, activism and imprisonment, or because their men were reckless and unfaithful. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela famously waited 27 years for her husband Nelson Mandela’s release from imprisonment.
Marasela has Theodorah in waiting for a man. Taking a leaf from Ndebele’s book Marasela has put Theodorah in the same predicament as the women in The Cry of Winnie Mandela. "That is why she dresses in a seshoeshoe dress. To mark herself as belonging to Gebane (her suitor)," she says.
Marasela’s work mirrors in a way that of Mary Sibande, known especially for creating Sophie, her alter ego, a domestic worker. The persona of Sophie became so successful that she was selected to be part of Johannesburg City Public Art project, adorning a landmark building in the city.
Sophie the domestic worker was inspired by Sibande’s own grandmother, who worked as a domestic worker. Sibande has, however, in recent years dumped Sophie, and those close to her say she became agitated when she somehow felt that she had lost control over Sophie, who became controlled by other major players in the art value chain, such as curators, with regards to how Sophie was portrayed in public spaces.
Marasela, just like Sibande in her subtle way, is quite vocal on issues of women’s space within the cut-throat art business.
"Women are often marked and are treated differently as a result of this marking. I have a full-time job and happily go to work in an identical-looking dress everyday. For me it is very important that I keep my dress on as I navigate through the narrative of Theodorah. Of course the looks of horror when people have to deal with me looking the same everyday, are priceless. Women are used to being available sexually. I guess in my dress I do not fulfill that role," she says.
Irrespective of the challenges facing women — especially black ones — in the arts, Marasela says there are a number of black women working and winning awards.
"We always hope, however, that more will come in. I don’t have representation by any gallery. That means I am without funding or any form of administrative support. It is a no-no in this country to approach a gallery. They are so few commercial ones anyway. I am largely a performance artist. We have nothing to sell. Being self-supporting I have to fund my own productions. I am happy to do this. There are many ways of remaining creative. I am totally independent. I study because the academic economy is changing. We need to make our practice part of critical engagement," says the globe-trotting artist who has had several international exhibitions over the years, but curiously few at home.
Her art exhibition, which also features works by multimedia artists Phumzile Nkosi, Zizipho Poswa, Turiya Magadlela and Angeline Msuku, is on at Imba Ya Sarai gallery, 4 Fox Street, corner Kruger Street, Maboneng.
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