Joburg Art Fair 2025: ALL AFRICA RE-UNION as Performative Reclamation
One of the most compelling highlights of the 2025 FNB Joburg Art Fair was ALL AFRICA RE-UNION, conceptualized and curated by Thebe Ikalafeng, founder of Brand Africa, with Professor DLS Kwesi anchoring the project through his historical insight. This ambitious performance art piece, framed by a painting from Mark Modimola and brought to life by performers Aubrey Poo, Shoki Mmola, Napo Masheane, and an ensemble of others, was not only a striking display of artistic collaboration but also a profound intervention into Africa’s historical imagination. Artwork by Mark Modimola and Photo by Tumelo Lerole and Trevor Stuurman. At the heart of the performance was a radical reframing of the infamous 1884 Berlin Conference, the geopolitical crime that partitioned the African continent under colonial dominion. Ikalafeng’s staging replaces the colonial figures with nineteen luminaries of African descent, seated around twenty chairs. The roster includes Zulaikha Patel, Nelson Mandela, So...
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