Sonya Mmakopano Rademeyer
POINTS
2021
Egypt
theIStruggle I & III, depict the ongoing personal struggle of post-colonialism from the artist’s white perspective. Wearing a dress that resembles clothing worn during early colonization, the artist speaks to her own internal struggle caused by this dominant and destructive politic. The standing image relays the full force of the artists own body against the imagined weight of such a dominant politic which, she inherently knows, she is unable to overpower. Nevertheless, she exerts the necessary pressure whilst fully understanding the impossibility thereof.
Struggling with the horns as she leans into the imagined beast of colonialism, her personal fight is with her inherited ancestral lineage. Rademeyer deems herself accountable for the contributions of her ancestral lineage which may have contributed to the still lingering inter-generational pain of today. The struggle, however, does not remain only with the artist but broadens out to include those struggling with ‘whiteness’ in a post-colonial society. Through this short series of three photographic works, Rademeyer hopes to unearth questions relating to whiteness itself, thereby questioning what whiteness is and what it means to face one’s own whiteness?
It is a something that has to be grappled with.
She is unable to escape her origins.
photo credits: MyMalaika_Photography
Short video here
Digital catalogue here
