Reading Art 2

 

In this article, we spoke to Khanya Mashabela, a Cape Town-based art writer and curator at A4 Arts Foundation, who shared her list of book recommendations. Mashabela explained the central role that her art books and artists’ publications form in her writing process, and as many of us do, she has a selection of books that she continues to return toward, for new ideas and to enrich those already existing.

 

 

As a former member of the Investec Cape Town Art Fair team, it was a special moment to reconnect with an old friend of the fair. In doing so, Khanya passionately explained the ways in which her selection of books inform her creative and research-based practices. While describing her relationship to each of these books, she pointed out particular details, projects and photographs nestled in pages that made her especially excited. Always delightful for any book enthusiast, Khanya’s selection varied between newer, recently-printed works, as well as well-worn copies that have kept her company from her studies until now: a testament to the many times she has paged through them over different life chapters.

 

 

 

 

Khanya: “An intimate, photographic exploration of a working-class, predominantly white suburb south of Johannesburg, ignited by Sobekwa’s deep curiosity about a place that ran adjacent to his childhood in Thokoza. Its doubled, ‘split screen’ approach to placing the photographers’ works into conversation is a wonderful, tactile experience.”

 

 

Khanya: “This book includes one of my favourite bodies of work by Wa Lehulere, The World of Nat Nakasa (2013). It gives great insight into his frames of reference and approaches to making in his own words, through letters and excerpts from playscripts he has written and an illuminating interview with Hans Ulrich Obrist – and the special edition comes with an original Polaroid by the artist!”

 

 

Khanya: “I return to this book often for its approach to art as social practice, its acknowledgement of artistic labour outside of institutional or commercial gallery spaces, and its sensitive engagement with Joburg’s African immigrant communities. In addition to detailing the creation of a community centre in Yeoville, it also charts the lives and work of the photographers operating in Joubert Park, just outside of the Johannesburg Art Gallery (Park Pictures, 2004).”

 

 

Khanya: “An incredible resource. It is where I first read David Koloane’s essay The Identity Question: Focus of Black South African Expression (1993) which I’ve cited in my writing about South African art too many times to count.”

 

 

Khanya: “Sekula was one of the first to push the boundaries of what documentary photography can be, interweaving it with theory, installation, and performance art to explore topics as broad as globalisation, post-industrial labour, capitalism, and war – often through satire and sentimentality. One of the book’s highlights is This Ain’t China (1974), a semi-fictional photo essay about a failed workers’ revolt in a San Diego pizza shop.”

 

 

Khanya also shared that her art book collection at home is rather decent, but that many of the books are more on the expensive side. But, she also assured that all of these books she has recommended are freely accessible at the library housed in A4 Arts Foundation.