How Unfiltered at the Heat Festival challenges artistic boundaries

In 2017, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lyon, France, was forced to remove Algerian artist Adel Abdessemed’s video Printemps after a social media outcry. 

The video features a row of chickens being engulfed in CGI fire. Labelled “a barbaric deviance” by one Twitter user, Printemps was deemed by the court of Twitter opinion to depict explicit animal cruelty. 

The gallery called this an “unfair trial” — Abdessemed had been engaged in animal rights activism for years before this exhibition, according to Artnet. 

Disdain for stifling the public display of possibly contentious or unpalatable artworks has echoed across the ages and geographies. It is the inspiration for Sisonke Gallery’s exhibition Unfiltered, which will be shown at the Heat Festival, a 12-day arts event in Cape Town’s CBD. 

Until 21 July, the Heat Festival brings together 15 exhibitions, united in presenting artworks relating to a central theme: Common Ground. Celebrating community lies at the centre of the programming ranging from visual arts to theatre productions, opera and jazz shows, stand-up comedy and dance workshops.

While Heat celebrates community and unity, the curators recognise the need for critical introspection of the conditions and spaces in which communities are forged. 

Artworks depicting socio-political ills and taboos should offer an opportunity for such reflection. However, recently there is a worrying trend of censoring artistic voices, whether by traditional power structures or the unpredictable sway of public opinion, amplified by social media.

Regardless of one’s personal sensibilities, in a world plagued by disparities and oppression, the arts, as always, function as a mirror reflecting society’s flaws and injustices. 

Censorship also need not be motivated by upholding traditions. In March, two women spray-painted the words “me too” over a 19th-century painting of a woman’s vulva by Gustave Courbet, exhibited at the Centre Pompidou-Metz. The women said they wished to “challenge this history of art” and its notably misogynistic treatment of female subjects.

The Guardian reported that French culture minister Rachida Dati commented, “An artwork is not a poster to colour in with the day’s message.” 

Some believe that censoring a centuries-old work based on modern politics is to prevent viewers from acknowledging the problematic parts of history and analysing how society has — or hasn’t — changed.

The Unfiltered exhibition at Sisonke Gallery, in collaboration with House Union Block and Spier Arts Trust, features 25 artists from their Creative Block programme.

Unfiltered aims to challenge censorship of works that represent no-holds-barred views on sexuality, politics and violence — themes that can be deemed unsuitable for public display. 

The exhibition curator, Tamlin Blake, believes that artists play a vital role in questioning authority and resisting oppression. She hopes that by showing their works on a prominent festival such as Heat, artists will be empowered to express themselves authentically and amplify oft-silenced voices. 

It will include walkabout tours of the 15 exhibitions on the programme.

“We encourage artists to have their own voices and to work with concepts that are currently relevant to them — this often includes difficult subjects …” explains Blake, who is also a Spier Arts Trustee. “When buying work for public spaces many of these subjects can be problematic and people are not always ready to take on the difficult discussions these works might initiate.

“Many of these works here have been in storage for a long time and we decided we could stimulate valuable discussion around what makes people choose to buy one artwork over and above another.”

While certain of the works on the show will undoubtedly prove uncomfortable for some, Blake maintains the importance of sparking discussion around artistic censorship and the value of provocative art. 

Ernest Fulani’s work explicitly depicts anal sex while Kufa Makwavarara presents a flirtatiously coded upskirt oil painting of a black woman leaning against police riot shields. John Dickin’s Lockdown — Clown Series 6 depicts a suicide.

However, Blake emphasises that art is not always meant to comfort, explaining the value of works that upset or prompt contemplation.

In shocking the viewer, these works allow them to examine their ideas and reactions to issues such as mental health and police brutality towards women. 

In the case of Fulani, the shock of the work might prompt questioning why explicit depictions of sex are still so controversial.

“What kind of world will we have if we do not allow ourselves to have difficult conversations?” asks Blake. “Artists are the pioneers of culture.”

Traditionally, there is some differentiation between the idea of artistic censorship and not showing works that will offend a particular community. 

Definitions claim that censorship refers to formal restrictions on the production or display of art, imposed by authorities, while choosing not to show offending works is a more formal decision, often based on respect for or sensitivity to certain groups.

However, with the advent of social media, the limits of censorship versus the removal of offensive material in the context of authority and power become blurred. 

Social media gives all account holders a voice and platform to publish opinions and garner support. That can lead to a few voices, which gain traction, becoming the definitive, authoritative opinion of the majority.

In addition to external pressures, self-censorship looms increasingly large among artists, driven by a fear of public backlash that becomes amplified by social media. The pressure to conform can often stifle creativity, leading to many artists producing less challenging works rather than risk provoking controversy.

According to Blake, “Any kind of prescription or prohibition to artists (even self-imposed) is a form of censorship.”

Reasons why a work might be censored vary, she explains, but all threaten freedom of expression.

“Driven by fear, lack of understanding, difference, intolerance — whatever the reason — humanity does not allow for freedom of expression in all circumstances,” she adds.

Art that prompts discomfort could play a positive role in testing the status quo.

“I believe art should be conceptually challenging to an audience,” says Nicola Kritzinger, curator at Kalashnikovv’s new Cape Town gallery, which is participating in the Heat Festival. 

“Art that elicits a strong emotional response can initiate critical thought. I think that art is only described as [offensive] when it stirs dichotomous thought and forces the discomfited viewer to question their core beliefs …” 

Kalashnikovv’s exhibition consists of three solo exhibitions by Kylie Wentzel, Simon Moshapo Jnr and Charity Vilakazi.

“Art is a vehicle through which we can foster the necessary dialogue that leads to the empathy and understanding that underpins tolerance,” continues Kritzinger.

Heat curator Nkgopoleng Moloi says: “A history of repression and oppression transforms the relationship that one has to speaking up … it seems critical that artists should always speak up — against power, norms, status quo and against the grain. This is where art’s transformative potential lies.”

Blake admits that some artworks on show at Unfiltered might be difficult for certain audiences but she argues that the individual works are not inherently contentious but rather thought-provoking. 

There is a fine line between art that is controversial and art that is challenging to view.

“Personally,” notes Blake, “I do not feel that any of the works in Unfiltered are seriously controversial in themselves … Some challenge us to think differently. There is much to consider and enjoy here.”

Other exhibitions showing at Heat that reflect society’s injustices include M.R.R.T & Courage by Wandie M at Nel Gallery, a short film questioning beauty standards for a young lesbian Xhosa woman.

With Scar at WorldArt, Kilmany-Jo Liversage, Norman O’Flynn and Dion Cupido present work that explores the impact our techno-cultural landscape has on individuals. 

Heat’s theatrical offerings include Ganga Nyoko! Inzima Nyoko! by Double Impact, about the challenges of being queer in the Eastern Cape in the early 2000s, and Tiro’s Toughloop Testimony by Okwamanzi Arts Junction, a tribute to the life of anti-apartheid activist Onkgopotse Tiro. 

While not highlighting injustice per se, Sophie Joan’s Aïo prompts a critical examination of our society’s relationship with technology. 

This text was funded by the Spier Arts Trust as part of the African Art Content platform’s writing programme aligned to the Heat Festival. Unfiltered is at Sisonke Gallery at the Cape Heritage Hotel as part of the Heat Festival, which runs until 21 July. For more information, visit heatfestival.org.