Mary Sibande South Africa, b. 1982
The Domba Dance, 2019
Life-size fiberglass, bronze, cotton fabric, fiberglass and silicone
157 1/2 x 98 3/8 x 118 1/8 in
400 x 250 x 300 cm
400 x 250 x 300 cm
7345
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Mary Sibande premiered The Domba Dance (2019) in Kavi Gupta's booth at Art Basel Miami Beach 2019, as part of ABMB's Kabinett sector. Mary’s work explores issues related to post-Apartheid...
Mary Sibande premiered The Domba Dance (2019) in Kavi Gupta's booth at Art Basel Miami Beach 2019, as part of ABMB's Kabinett sector. Mary’s work explores issues related to post-Apartheid South Africa. This fiberglass and textile sculpture features Mary’s evolving character Sophie seen in all red alongside a red, multi-headed dog, flanked by a ribbon of interlocked multi-colored arms. Here is a short statement from Mary about the piece:
“This installation reflects on the legacy or the after taste of Apartheid in South Africa. The work is a pseudo psychological investigation, exploring a suppressed and yet ubiquitous emotion, that of anger. At the core of the work is the preservation of the heart. In isiZulu, and more broadly iNguni-speaking people, the heart is associated with a wide spectrum of emotions such as anger, impatience and tolerance. The color red has many metaphorical associations, from spiritual, to links with blood. According to a common Zulu expression, an angry person is defined as a “red dog”. The emotive quality of anger relegates the individual as belonging outside humanity and in the realm of animal. There is also a nihilistic approach to anger, in which the emotion of anger, as located in the heart, manifests destruction which includes the figure harboring it. These thematic concerns speak to the condition of the post-Apartheid dissatisfaction in contemporary South African society. The working title invokes a Tshivenda practice called the ‘Domba Dance’ (also called the ‘Python Dance’). Performed by young women, the dance symbolizes fertility and sexuality during their initiation ceremony as they transition into adulthood. In this case, the melodic movement conveys the passing on of the torch. ‘Sophie’ has now entered her red phase.”
“This installation reflects on the legacy or the after taste of Apartheid in South Africa. The work is a pseudo psychological investigation, exploring a suppressed and yet ubiquitous emotion, that of anger. At the core of the work is the preservation of the heart. In isiZulu, and more broadly iNguni-speaking people, the heart is associated with a wide spectrum of emotions such as anger, impatience and tolerance. The color red has many metaphorical associations, from spiritual, to links with blood. According to a common Zulu expression, an angry person is defined as a “red dog”. The emotive quality of anger relegates the individual as belonging outside humanity and in the realm of animal. There is also a nihilistic approach to anger, in which the emotion of anger, as located in the heart, manifests destruction which includes the figure harboring it. These thematic concerns speak to the condition of the post-Apartheid dissatisfaction in contemporary South African society. The working title invokes a Tshivenda practice called the ‘Domba Dance’ (also called the ‘Python Dance’). Performed by young women, the dance symbolizes fertility and sexuality during their initiation ceremony as they transition into adulthood. In this case, the melodic movement conveys the passing on of the torch. ‘Sophie’ has now entered her red phase.”
Provenance
Artist studioKavi Gupta
Exhibitions
Mary Sibande - Unhand me, Demon!, 2021. Kavi Gupta | Elizabeth St, Chicago, IL; Blue, Red, Purple, 2021. The First Art Museum, Nashville, TN, USA; Garmenting: Costume as Contemporary Art, 2022. Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY, USA;1
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