JURY STATEMENT
The series House of Realness raises the question of agency and representation through stereotypical imagery and expectations of specifically gay queerness in the townships of Johannesburg, but also creates space for new, heroic imaginations. Sipho Gongxeka’s protagonists are heroes in their own right, influential performance artists and models such as the FAKA collective and Nkululeko Masemola, whose work promotes and reinforces differentiation, earnestness and diversity in the discourse of gay and queer representation.
HOUSE OF REALNESS
“House Of Realness” examines the identity-forming, but also categorizing role of fashion and clothing in queer culture. Sipho Gongxeka has examined stereotypes in Johannesburg’s townships and shows an alternative aesthetic contradicting common expectations of the “flashiness” in queer masculinity. He writes about his own experience: “Oddly, when you are queer in the township, the expectation is to show that part of your identity in the way that you dress. The assumption is that a queer person is someone who wears bright colours, tight women’s clothing, always in the company of women, will have a funny or feminine hairdo and a super extroverted personality etc… Growing up in the townships, we have come to know and expect queer people to perform these stereotypes in particular ways.” The project emerged from an active dialog around and with Thato Ramaisa (aka Fela Gucci and Buyani Duma (aka Desire Marea) of the performance duo FAKA, as well as the queer model Nkululeko Masemola and the wider personal network. Sipho Gongxeka opts for an aesthetic that is reminiscent of documentary photography in South African townships in the 1980s. House of Realness thus doubly questions projections of queer communities in South-African townships and articulates a self-assertion from within the community.
BIOGRAPHY
Sipho Gongxeka was born in 1989, in Soweto, Johannesburg. He studied at the Market Photo Workshop, completing the yearlong Advanced Programme in Photography in 2012. Gongxeka was the 6th recipient of the Tierney Fellowship Award with the Market Photo Workshop 2013/2014. Gongxeka has published locally and been featured in group exhibitions that includes Identikit, Against Time at the 10th Edition of Bamako Encounters and 154 Contemporary Art Fair in New York.
JURY STATEMENT
Sipho Gongxeka stellt mit „House of Realness“ die Frage der Wirkungsmacht und Repräsentation durch stereotype Bilder von spezifischer Queerness in den Townships von Johannesburg, schafft aber auch Raum für neue. Seine Protagonist*innen selbst sind einflussreiche Performance Künstler*innen und Models wie das FAKA Kollektiv und Nkululeko Masemola, die mit ihrem Wirken Differenzierung, Ernsthaftigkeit in der Auseinandersetzung und Vielfältigkeit vorantreiben und bestärken.
HOUSE OF REALNESS
„House of Realness“ beschäftigt sich mit der identitätsstiftenden, aber auch kategorisierenden Rolle von Mode und Kleidung in queerer Kultur. Speziell hat sich Sipho Gongxeka mit Stereotypen in Townships von Johannesburg auseinander gesetzt und zeigt mit House of Realness Kontrapunkte, die gängigen Erwartungen an das „Schrille“ in queerer Männlichkeit entgegenstehen. Über seine Erfahrung schreibt er: „Komischer Weise wird, wenn man im Township queer ist, erwartet, dass man diesen Teil seiner Identität im Kleidungsstil zeigt. Es wird davon ausgegangen, dass eine queere Person jemand ist, die leuchtende Farben und enge feminine Kleider trägt, immer in Gesellschaft von Frauen ist, eine ausgefallene oder feminine Frisur hat und eine sehr extrovertierte Persönlichkeit ist usw… Da wir in den Townships aufgewachsen sind, haben wir gelernt und tragen gewisse Erwartungshaltungen in uns, dass queere Menschen diese Stereotypen auf bestimmte Weise erfüllen.“ Das Projekt entstand aus einem aktiven Diskurs um und mit Thato Ramaisa (aka Fela Gucci) und Buyani Duma (aka Desire Marea) des Performance Duos FAKA, sowie dem queeren Model Nkululeko Masemola und dem weiteren persönlichen Netzwerk. Sipho Gonxeka entscheidet sich für eine Ästhetik, die an dokumentarische Praxis in südafrikanischen Townships der 80er Jahre erinnert. Siphoe Gongxeka stellt also doppelt Ausblicke auf queere Communities in Townships in Frage und formuliert mit House of Realness eine Selbstbehauptung aus der Community heraus.
BIOGRAFIE
Sipho Gongxeka wurde 1989 in Soweto, Johannesburg, geboren. Er studierte am Market Photo Workshop und schloss 2012 das einjährige Advanced Programme in Photography ab. Gongxeka war der 6. Empfänger des Tierney Fellowship Award beim Market Photo Workshop 2013/2014. Gongxeka hat auf lokaler Ebene veröffentlicht und war in Gruppenausstellungen vertreten, darunter Identikit, Against Time bei der 10. Ausgabe von Bamako Encounters und 154 Contemporary Art Fair in New York.
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