I chose today’s images as examples of Peter Clarke’s interest and celebration of everyday life, especially within his own community. He works primarily with wood and linocuts, two similar print-making methods that enhance and complement the simplicity and honesty of his subject matter.

Coming From Shopping (1968) silhouettes a female figure against an autumnal background of trees, grass, flowers and sky. The stylized forms recall traditional African carvings and the minimalism of the figure casts her as an ‘everywoman’ of the community. She does what all must do, and do frequently. There is a brisk purposefulness to her figure – rendered nearly featureless due to our vantage point and the use of monochrome – which contrasts interestingly with the lively beauty of the natural background. She seems slightly disconnected from her surroundings; her mind is already occupied with her destination, home, and the tasks that lie ahead of her. She is not a lady of leisure to stroll slowly and luxuriate in the beauty of nature. She will cook, feed people, organise things; she has a lot to do. I like to think though that as she strides through the beautiful landscape she feels a lightness in her step and that unnamed pleasure that comes from being at one with oneself and ones surroundings, rather than a disconnected, if admiring, observer.

I like the relationship between this image and the next one which is entitled, Doing What We Do, We Get On With Our Lives (undated). It seems entirely possible that this should be the woman’s destination. The scene is of a small village, inhabited by characters with such human qualities that one almost feels they are the unnamed people that surround us on a daily basis, just a few of the many thousands that we do not form any particular connection with, but of whom we are peripherally aware, strangers, yet kin, all of us in the great mixing pot of humanity.

 Birds silhouetted against the sky show a favourite theme of Clarke’s. He has a fascination with birds that he says started when he was very young at an uncle’s funeral. He was a pigeon trainer and at the end of the ceremony great baskets of birds were let loose creating a flurry in the sky.

The birds certainly seem to convey a strange, slightly melancholy spiritual quality as they fly together across a brooding sunset sky. Below them in the centre of the village is the poignant figure, in a large overcoat, of a man on crutches. He is seen from behind, his head is dipped and he does not see the magnificent, startling flight of birds above him. But of all the characters he most seems to have a tie with them, in spite of, or perhaps because he is the least free to move.  His broken body has the mark of mortality upon it, invisible in the busy figures of the other folk; his shackles bring him closer to the moment when he will be free.

The evocative story-illustration power of Clarkes’ work was recently noted by Barbadian blogger, the Bajan Reporter after he exhibited A Hot and Quiet Evening in Barbados. As he put it, “His linocuts and woodcuts remind me for the most part of cels from an animated feature yet to be fully crafted, and I want to view the whole feature!”

Of course the story is that of Clarkes’ life and the life of his community and I look forward to sharing (and investigating) more images and stories over the next couple of weeks!

Last night, the Kalk Bay Modern had the honour and pleasure of presenting A Hot and Quiet Evening, an exhibition of work spanning six decades by veteran South African artist and poet Peter Clarke. The exhibition was opened by Clarke’s long time friend and associate Lionel Davis whose wonderfully anecdotal speech enlightened the gathered crowd as to the origins of this remarkable exhibition and gave us some insight into the man who created it.

A Hot and Quiet Evening was first exhibited in Barbados at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination (EBCCI) and is the loving product of Peter Clarke’s long-standing interest in Barbados and his correspondence with celebrated Barbadian author George Lamming. Lionel Davis related the story in which Clarke was presented with a copy of Lamming’s book, In the Castle of my Skin, which marked the beginning of their liaison. The victim of a forced removal at the hands of the apartheid government, Peter Clarke noted the similarities between the political and social histories of Barbados and South Africa and was moved to form a channel of communication between them.

His interest in Barbados, however, had been kindled long ago during his childhood in the vibrant mixed community of Simonstown before the forced removal to Ocean View – which, it has been noted, is depressingly deficient in a sea view. An uncle on Clarke’s father’s side had originated from Barbados and as a child Clarke had always been curious about him. He notes sadly that after the upheaval of his childhood, he was left with little more than this scrap of information about him and the knowledge that he will never be able to find out any more.

Clarke’s work is a celebration and documentation of the everyday life of his community. It has tremendous value both aesthetically and historically. It is this historical similarity that outwardly proved to be the link between Barbados and South Africa. But it is in something more closely human, more day-to-day, that the connection truly lies.

Bridget Thompson, director of the Art and Ubuntu Trust, spoke at the Barbados opening of A Hot and Quiet Evening, and read aloud from a statement Peter had written about the show. As it turns out, he had been familiar with Lamming’s work since he was a young man of 25. On a date he very specifically remembers, 7 December 1954, he bought an American paperback book called New World Writing, an anthology of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and art, from contributors all around the world. It contained an extract of the book he was to receive many years later, In the Castle of My Skin, which spoke of life in Barbados.

What he speaks of most hauntingly is an incredible sense of familiarity in the world Lamming described. His description of this revelation - “the  characters, their responses to each other, the settings, the colours projected into my consciousness, all of it as if part of my own life.” – reminds me of how I felt as I stood in front of many of his works. The power of an everyday scene lies in its ability to transport one into a moment of pure being, a moment in which one somehow experiences existence in another time or place, not in a way that is monumental, mind-blowing or disorientating, but deeply, quietly and with a sense of belonging.

His hopes that the Barbadian viewers of his exhibition might experience a similar strange sense of familiarity when looking at his images shows a deep commitment to communication, a point that Lionel Davis emphasized about his friend, and an understanding of the web that interconnects all of humanity.

I look forward in the coming few weeks to sharing some of his beautiful images with you and giving more specific information on the works on exhibition. A Hot and Quiet Evening runs until the 30^th of November and is very much worth visiting. 

The Kalk Bay Modern would like to warmly thank the Art and Ubuntu Trust and the EBCCI Gallery in Barbados for providing us with material concerning this exhibition.

This Wednesday, 11^th of November, at 6:00 PM, the Kalk Bay Modern will be presenting the opening of A Hot and Quiet Evening – A Peter Clarke Exhibition. Opening the exhibition will be Lionel Davis and it will run from 11^th – 30^th November. Be sure not to miss as it promises to be a magnificent show featuring one of South Africa’s veteran artists.

This will be my last post about Paul Weinberg’s work and I have five wonderful images to share with you.

When I wrote about the Moving Spirit body of work in a previous blog, I did not yet have access to postable copies of his beautiful photographs (though I did have his book by the same title on my lap as I wrote). As I now do, I will post a few of my favourites and tell you a little more about them. 

The first image, I have chosen for its ‘surely-not’ factor. It shows a famous sangoma, Khekhekhe Mtetwa putting a black mamba snake in his mouth at an annual festival of fruits ceremony, near Eshowe, Kwazulu Natal. The black mamba is possibly the most feared snake in South Africa – it is extremely poisonous and is the only snake that will in fact chase you if you happen to disturb it. There is something both matter of fact and alarming in the eyes of Khekhekhe as he chews thoughtfully on the head of the snake, apparently no more concerned than if it was a rather sharp sour worm, or an unsavoury bit of rubber. I also cannot figure out why a fruit ceremony requires such an unlikely (albeit magnificent) feat.

The second image once again features a sangoma, this time a young woman in a state of trance at a graduation ceremony for traditional healers at Hlabisa, KwaZulu Natal. It is a wonderfully atmospheric photograph, the transcendent quality of the sangoma’s face enhanced by light and movement interference, caught by the camera and creating the surreal effect of her spirit moving through her. It is clear why this image was chosen for the cover of the Moving Spirit anthology – it certainly captures the strange, indefinable nature of the spirit and the spiritual quest.

I seem to be focussing mainly on sangoma’s here but I can’t resist one last image documenting their activities as this shows a particularly fascinating and relatively new addition to the practice. Our third image shows that novel being, a white sangoma, performing a cleansing ceremony for a twasa (a sangoma trainee) in the Umgeni River in KwaZulu Natal. The emergence of white sangomas is a wonderfully unusual phenomenon, seeming to indicate a deep connection between spirituality and the land as well as a cross-pollination of cultures that seems to confirm, as Paul has observed, that all spiritual tributaries lead to the same ocean common to us all.

And with that I move away from sangoma’s to another facet of that ocean (metaphorically and in this case literally) to baptisms of a Zion Church sect, on Inhaca Island, Mozambique. I have chosen these images for two reasons: I have always been fascinated by baptism, its significance as rebirth and the physicality of its process. This is not dusty intellectual spirituality experienced in the form of a classroom lecture. This is a process involving all the senses and allowing for physical contact between religious brethren in a holistic in what I imagine to be an intensely moving, deeply spiritual experience. The second of these two pictures on Inhaca Island shows a man praying, either before or after a baptism. I find this to be a most beautiful image, stirringly reverent yet profoundly calm, contrasting wonderfully with the intense, almost frenzied surge of rapture displayed in the first of the two.

I have really enjoyed discussing Paul Weinberg's work and hope that the information was useful and interesting.

The Peter Clarke exhibition this Wednesday promises to be a wonderful show – don’t miss it!

Today I’ll be posting three of my favourite Paul Weinberg images.  

The first, I think, links interestingly to our last image –Nelson Mandela casting his ballot in 1994’s first democratic elections. The image is entitled Inauguration of Mandela, Pretoria 1994, and shows a white, blonde little boy sitting below an enormous projection screen containing Mandela’s face. The tension in the photo seems to embody the fears of many white South Africans at the time – that with the ANC in power, things would become very bad for whites. 

The huge figures of Mandela and two companions – faceless, only parts of their heads are showing – loom over the little blonde figure – his dress, haircut and general air somehow seem to cast him as a representative of conservative, apprehensive whitedom.

The second image captures an extremely heart-warming moment but is also a record of the human rights violations committed by the old South African government. Reunion after 20 Years, Riemvasmaak, 1995, shows two sisters who were classified as belonging to different races during Apartheid, and under the Group Areas Act were separated. 

However, the pure happiness and love on the old woman’s face, as her eyes and hands join those of her recovered sister, makes this image primarily a tribute to joy, love and positive change.  It is a truly beautiful image.

On the theme of change, the last photograph is a breezy, unusual image entitled On the ‘Quickie’, Durban Harbour, 1996. It was used for the cover of Paul Weinberg’s book Travelling Light, in which Inauguration of Mandela and Reunion after 20 Years are also published. As previously mentioned Travelling Light is a collection of Paul’s work spanning 25 years.

The Quickie was a ferry that carried people to-and-fro across Durban Harbour and often contained a wide assortment of interesting characters. This photograph has a delightfully whimsical atmosphere capturing the joyful feeling of freedom that comes with travel. The figure (consisting only of a pair of legs in a windswept skirt) could be a tourist or holidaymaker or someone travelling across the harbour after a longs days work. Whatever the case, for this moment – as she stands carefree and somewhat precariously on the edge of the ferry – the wind and the waves whisper the promise of adventure.

Paul Weinberg’s exhibition – Here and There – came to an end on Saturday. All in all it was a hugely successful show, with an opening night that will surely be remembered for a long time to come in both the Kalk Bay community as well as the greater art sphere.

The next exciting exhibition will feature the work of Peter Clarke, an extremely versatile and award winning South African artist – there will be more to follow on that soon.

In the meantime we will explore a few more of Paul Weinberg’s remarkable images, starting today with a truly triumphant moment in our political and ethical history.

The image is of Nelson Mandela casting his vote in South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. Paul described the moment of taking the shot – the awkward angle and the frantic atmosphere mixed with the delirious sense of seeing history being made.

This is what one sees in this image, a piece of world history, a poignant and earth-shaking moment, the culmination of a great struggle in which, for once, it seemed that good had finally triumphed. The knowledge of everything that lies behind this image makes it breathtaking. I think there are few South Africans (or any other citizens of the world) who could stand before it and not, for at least a moment, be moved and humbled.

The photographic record is a remarkable thing for in the background we see the future that was. Behind Mandela awaiting his turn to cast his vote is our current and controversial president, Jacob Zuma.

That which was merely an interesting detail several years ago, now seems placed by fate. This is the magic of photography in its relationship to time. The image is never finite, complete and total in itself; it is a fragment of the actual, linked firmly to the past and the future, and its fascination and value only increase.

Moving Spirit, Spirituality in Southern Africa is one of four books by Paul Weinberg available for sale at the Kalk Bay Modern. Images from the books are currently on display in the Here and There exhibition which runs until 31 October.

Moving Spirit is a narrative and visual journey exploring the various spiritual traditions of Southern Africa both new and ancient. Intertwined is Paul Weinberg’s own spiritual voyage, a subtle element that gives this work an insight beyond traditional journalism.

His long-standing relationship with the indigenous peoples of Southern Africa allows him to share distressing insights into the predicament they face, stranded between two cultures. He records their attempts to reconcile the traditional with the western, capturing moments of spiritual unity and transcendence as well as the violence, pain and anger that are part of this country’s legacy.

His explorations are not limited to indigenous peoples or age-old tradition however. Southern Africa has one of the most cosmopolitan populations in the world providing us with extremely rich cultural, religious and spiritual customs.

His beautiful and moving photographs document, amongst other things,  a Hindu firewalking ceremony in Pietermaritzburg, a Tibetan monk making a sand mandala in Durban, a Wiccan Spring celebration, an Agape group-therapy session led by Stan Lipschitz in Mamelodi township and a Bahai service – a new religion that draws on many faiths believing in unity as a foundation.

The photographs are accompanied by an engaging account of Paul’s time spent exploring these traditions which provide, not only a wealth of information on the people and practices he photographed, but also insight into the relationship between these people and the media.

As a photographer he can often access rituals that are closed off from the public, but he has also come across those who distrust an outsider documenting their extremely private worlds. On the other hand, due to the booming tourist industry thirsty for ‘authentic experiences’, he has also witnessed the line between genuine ritual and staged performance pieces. 

All these facets combine to give an incredibly in-depth picture of Southern African religion and spirituality and form a beautiful and moving work.

Today’s image is from the In Search of the San section of Paul Weinberg’s exhibition, Here and There, and it captures another poignant and surreal moment of Southern African history.

 Elections, Bushman land, Aruru, Namibia (1989) shows a UN helicopter delivering ballot papers to this region for the election that was to result in Namibia’s independence from South Africa. This was the first time that the people of Bushman land, the San, had ever voted, and the concept of elections and having a ruler was completely foreign to them.

This startling intrusion of the western world is captured perfectly in the image of a naked San child staring up the UN helicopter with a sense of awe and amazement that we can only imagine. The only thing it could perhaps be compared to is the science fiction scenario of seeing a UFO hovering over one’s back garden.

However as in the previous image discussed, the child’s innocence and awed acceptance of whatever the world may bring is harshly contrasted with the plight of Southern Africa’s indigenous peoples.

Paul Weinberg began his search for the San (documented in his book of the same title) in 1984 and found, instead of the harmonious hunter-gatherer paradise that is key to western mythology about the bushman, a people displaced and dispossessed, living in a state of trauma.

Although this is a UN helicopter, a representative of those trying to help rectify some of the wrongs done to these people, the knowledge of the havoc wreaked by this alien race on those unable to defend themselves is harrowing.

However for a moment, captured here, is a moment of pure wonder, the science fiction dream or miraculous manifestation.