Two of the exhibiting artists, Willem Boshoff and Dorothee Kreutzfeldt, are not disabled — not in a way the naked eye can see at any rate.
Among the big names are also Tommy Mostwai, who is deaf, and Dan Rakgoathe, who is blind. It was a great pleasure and honour for me to exhibit my work alongside other disabled artists and realise once more how my experiences of disability are intertwined with those of others like me.
In keeping with the theme of access represented in some of the work, the exhibition is taking place in an accessible gallery — normally access is an afterthought even in events meant for disability and disabled people, but this is positive.
The various works in the exhibition, which was opened by Minister in the Office of the President Essop Pahad, provides different perspectives on disability, thus reinforcing the fact that disability is complex and dynamic. In the past only one dimension of disability (that disability was painful and depressing) was emphasised and this created, among others, the notion among some able-bodied people that “a life with a disability was not worth living”.
For me the works in this show celebrate disability and represents it in a balanced way, with all its negatives and positives. As one of the curators, Usha Seejarim, said: “Disability should be seen as a challenge rather than an obstacle, without trivialising it.”
One work that spoke to me, as a wheelchair user, is a mixed media sculpture called The Man on the Chair by Ben Nhlanhla Nsusha, a lecturer at the University of Durban- Westville. The work portrays a man sitting on what appears to be a wheelchair. In fact, the man is part of the chair, his body is connected to the chair. The front of the chair resembles a Rolls Royce’s front with a car registration plate where the footrests would be in a wheelchair.
The large front wheels of the chair are decorated in the style of the rickshaws one finds in Durban. The man on the chair is in a dancing mode as he listens to the radio he is holding close to his ear.
The ambiguity of whether this is a wheelchair or a rickshaw echoes the ambiguity that is often expressed about whether the wheelchair confines or liberates us by giving us mobility. The celebratory mood of the dude on the chair answers the question to some extent.
The series of multimedia works by Dorothee Kreutzfeldt brings the reality of disability home even to me who has been disabled all my life. The work consists of a series of prints of Cape Town restaurants bombed between 1998 and 2000. Speakers have been installed above the prints (a sound installation) from which the victims of the blasts are telling their story in interviews with Kreutzfeldt.
The work attempts, among other things, to “explore what language is available to speak about the consequences of such destruction in the public sphere”. In many ways this echoes the concern some of us often express about the lack of a language to speak about our disabilities positively or at least in a balanced way in the media. The “victims” speak about their experiences and their “loss” in powerful ways in Kreutzfeldt’s work.
These are just two works of a great variety of work in this exhibition that speak powerfully and sometimes poignantly about disability. The exhibition is a contribution towards a creation of new or revised images of disability in this country.
In the past we had images of disability that were more disabling than the actual experiences of disabilities. But now we realise that we can challenge even the most entrenched stereotypes as well as redefine our identities through art. We can through art blur the lines between what is deemed impossible for us and what we can really achieve. We can forge a future of possibilities through our work.
For me making art has always been a form of activism. When we represent ourselves in painting or sculpture and then exhibit these images we openly defy the laws that previously said we should be hidden in dark rooms. We are inserting ourselves into the histories of the future of this country on our own terms and breaking the barriers that would inhibit us.
Beyond Barriers is presented by the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons and the Visual Arts and Craft Academy and curated by Coral Bijoux and Usha Seejarim. It runs until September 29 at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, Klein Street, Joubert Park, Tel: (011) 725 3184