Mary Evans, on the Sanlam Arts Round Up, talks us through GILT, her solo exhibition at Zeitz MOCAA, and explains the “umbilical connection” to her African roots.
Listen to the Sanlam Arts Round Up on Fine Music Radio FMR 101.3fm every Friday at 17h30
Mary tells us of her residency in Cape Town last year, which allowed her to research local history as part of reaffirming her connection to a part of Africa she had not visited before. Although she left Nigeria as a child, when her family moved to England, her home kept her culturally in touch with her place of birth and the African continent. Being in Cape Town allowed her to review local history and how it impacts on the new. 
The focus is on memories and she agrees that an important aspect of her work is about changing materials that are mundane into something meaningful. It is about making the unseen visible. Using cheap material is also predicated by the fact that the Black body was treated cheaply. The bitter sweet comes through in her poignant imagery.
Working with brown paper for large and impressive murals is a case in point. Or creating significant and meaningful images on paper plates and doilies are
also discussed. Materials which would normally be discarded as worthless.
The current exhibition at Zeitz MOCAA, When WE See Us,.also reviews Black self-representation.
Reference is made to gingerbread men cookies, and one needs to visit GILT to see how something as common as a small biscuit and the smell of ginger can invoke such a strong response and sense of guilt.
Feel guilty if you do not visit GILT! Be “seduced”….
WHAT: Mary Evans – GILT
WHERE: Zeitz MOCAA, Silo District, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town 8001
WHEN: through 29 October 2023 | Museum hours Tues to Sun, 10 am to 6 pm
INFO: E communications@zeitzmocaa.museum | VISIT | See also Mary Evans – GILT – at Zeitz MOCAA
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