Excerpt with text by Isaac Kariuki, music by Sami El-Enany and visuals by Dorine van Meel
Gentle Dust is initiated by artist Dorine van Meel and co-curated with independent curator and arts writer Rianna Jade Parker. The work includes textual contributions from Rianna Jade Parker, Isaac Kariuki, Imani Robinson, Caspar Jade Heinemann, Mbali Khoza, Senzo Brian Sibisi, Sipho Charles Gwala, Thato Magano, Natasha Jacobs, Lesego Molokoane and Dorine van Meel. Original music by Sami El-Enany. Visuals by Dorine van Meel. Voice-overs by Rianna Jade Parker, Emma Bennet, Holly Pester, Imani Robinson, Isaac Kariuki, Natasha Jacobs and Thato Magano.
First instalment of the work at Jupiter Woods, London, 2016.
Second instalment of the work at ROOM Gallery & Projects, Johannesburg, 2016.
Third instalment of the work at Showroom MAMA, Rotterdam, 2017.
Final presentation of the work at Berlin Biennale 10, Berlin, 2018.
Gentle Dust starts from the acknowledgement that the museum of modern art, as an institute, has been able to define art discourse and the art canon, excluding a vast amount of artists and practices while presenting itself as "global". The live performances will respond to the question of how we can disengage from the narratives that are told and taught by these museums. The project is understood as the beginning of a dialogue, in which we, as a multiplicity of young art practitioners foreground the stories, perspectives and questions that have a special urgency to us in this time of crisis. Rather than wait for the institutions to open their doors to us, we want to make our voices heard in the here and now.
The project is formulated as a series of events and already took place in London on 25 August 2016 at Jupiter Woods and in Johannesburg on 29 October 2016 at ROOM Gallery & Projects. The decision for this project to take place over a duration of time, as well as space, comes out of the urge to propose new strategies to connect artists and project spaces across nation borders and bring them together in thought and practice.
The instalment of the project in London has been supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Mondriaan Fund and the Arts Council England. The instalment of the project in Johannesburg has been supported by the Mondriaan Fund.
