Lady Money Sings the Blues, Harlem 2011
from the “Interiors” series
From the series Sugar Cane, 2006
from the “Interiors” seriesLL: Your work as a whole addresses the economic and political reality of marginalized communities primarily in South Africa. Can you talk about your personal interest in these communities and professions (miners, sugarcane workers, etc.). Are you personally an outsider or is there more of a connection to these people and circumstances -politically, economically, culturally?
ZM: The work is about my personal history and personal observation. I grew up in contact with these different communities all the time. I was always interested in how the migrant workers would be ostracized from the main community, which was the community that I came from. The migrant workers were always seen as “the other” – they looked different, talked different, dressed different – they were just so different. As a kid I was curious to understand the dynamics of these differences, mainly because we were all black, I assumed we were all the same. Growing up as an artist I came to realize that I was also an outsider because with my views on life I probably didn’t belong to any of the communities, even the mainstream community.
Zwelethu Mthethwa Monograph from The Aperture Foundation
From the series Sugar Cane, 2003
From the series Sugar Cane, 2007
Untitled
From the series Interiors, documenting the domestic lives of migrant workers around Johannesburg, South Africa. Photograph (c) Zwelethu Mthethwa /All Rights Reserved
Posts
All Comments
