Siemon allen biography of donald
“A Fiction of Authenticity”
This exhibition of newly commissioned artwork by eleven African artists born between and and working in Europe or the United States inaugurates this institution’s new building and, presumably, higher profile. The curators—Shannon Fitzgerald of the Contemporary and Tumelo Mosaka of New York’s Brooklyn Museum—“seek to analyze constructions of perceptions (fictions) about what constitutes an authentic Africa . . . and to what extent one’s Africanness is expressed, understood, exploited, and relevant in contemporary global culture.”
Siemon Allen (born in South Africa, lives in Washington, DC) focuses in on the view from elsewhere. He’s assembled two years of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, mounted it on the wall, and covered it with tracing paper, except for the rare but predictable (AIDS, Mandela) articles on South Africa. Other artists grapple with their identity as Africans abroad: Fatma Charfi’s Suisse du Sud, Expo 03, , is made up of innumerable abe&#;rics (the word means “humans” in Arabic), tiny figures twisted from black, white, and red tissue and installed in small or large jumbles. Though they’re stand-ins for her multiple identity as an Arab from North Africa living in Switzerland, these simple creatures also suggest the fragility of individuals of all kinds. And London-based Zineb Sedira, Paris-born of Algerian parents, presents video and photographs of her Arabic-speaking mother, Arabic- and French-speaking father, and English-speaking daughter that provide a moving window on Algerian colonial history as lived out within a single family.
Other artists cast an ambivalent eye on the modern(ist) century. Odili Donald Odita (born in Nigeria, lives in Florida) contributed three large abstract acrylics along with small drawings of street musicians and boys studying the Koran, among other everyday subjects. His abstractions riff on the classics of the ge
South Africa outside!
For the past ten years I have been exploring through a number of varied projects the idea of a history of South Africa outside itself. The premise of the research involves the idea that individuals (as well as artifacts) leave the country for a range of complex reasons and thereafter exist in an external space. Often these individuals (and the histories they embody) remain unrecognized or forgotten in South Africa. My goal has been to mine and collate the information and to return it in some form back to a South African audience. In many ways the compilation featured here today is part of one of these projects and features a cross-section of mostly South African music in exile.
For purposes of definition, exile music here covers a thirty year period from to , during the heart of the apartheid years. This survey is by no means comprehensive, nor is it representative of all South African exile artists or even their &#;best&#; work. Rather it is a collection of some of my favorite, more personal tunes. Tunes that for me capture some of the darker but also more ecstatic moments of exile.
The alienation, isolation of the foreign experience is evident on many tracks, especially the solo performances. But at the same time, so are fragments of cultural memory, various phrasings, quotes of the majuba sounds of the s, that instantly recall a distant home. Often the fragments gives way to moments of ecstatic joy and build in strength to challenge the darkness.
The task of compiling a limited set of tracks on this theme has been difficult &#; there is so much good music out there and these volumes could potentially continue for some time. In any event, I have tried to select albums that are generally harder to come by or tracks that are perhaps somewhat unusual. While European and US jazz enthusiasts might be familiar with some of these recordings, many have been unavailable and remain unheard in South Africa.
Miriam Makeba does not feature o
Recently, I came across this Austrian EP featuring the Manhattan Brothers and the Jazz Dazzlers amongst others and assumed, like so many other vinyl compilations of this time, that it was compiled from tracks previously issued on 78 rpm. Remarkably the disc happened to be of a live recording!
Given that live performances, especially with these artists, were very scarce at this time, this certainly was an unusual find, and I embarked on a kind of "autopsy" of the disc to see where it would lead.
Beyond the Manhattans, the performance also included the Swanky Spots; Doris, Ducky and the Harmoniens; with the Jazz Dazzlers backing all. The EP includes five tracks and all appear to be from the same performance. None of the tracks are attributed to any particular artist and while it may be possible to figure out a few of the performers, a number of tracks seem to include some or all the artists. Certainly the Jazz Dazzlers appear on all the tracks.
My first question was where was the recording made and in what year?
Interestingly, many of the tunes are in English; most if not all are cover versions. Two of the tracks, Ntyilo-Ntylioand Hush, are South African classics and the remaining three appear to reference major American rock and doo-wop hits of the s. In my research for my previous post on the Bogard Brothers, regarding the influence of rock in South Africa, I came across a reference to a concert "Township Rock" at Johannesburg's City Hall from 7 - 9 May, The show included amongst others the Woody Woodpeckers and the Jazz Dazzlers. Could this be a recording from that concert?
Ntandaneappears to be a Zulu-based cover of Paul Anka's hit Diana. If there is any doubt, a translation of the German liner notes makes it plain. The notes go on to say that the song is performed by a fifteen year old singer who also happens to be the person featured on the cover image. Could this be Doris?
I do a search for the "Swanky Spo
Time / Image
Time / Image
Houston, United States
Siemon Allen (); Matthew Buckingham (); Allan deSouza (); Andrea Geyer (); Leslie Hewitt (); Isaac Julien (); Lorraine O'Grady ( - ); Trevor Paglen (); [Jebesh Bagchi *, Monica Narula *, Shuddhabrata Sengupta *] Raqs Media Collective (); Ruth Robbins; Gary Simmons ();
Amy L. Powell;
N/A
New York, United States
Scott Conarroe (); Bruce Gilden (); Sharon Harper (); Michael Kolster; Deana Lawson (); Deborah Luster (); Christian Patterson (); Gary Schneider (); Mike Sinclair; Alec Soth (); Valerio Spadas (); Barbara Hammer ( - ); Greg Smith; Juliana [Coco] Fusco (); Kimsooja (); Laura Parnes (); Leslie Thornton (); Marie Losier (); Kim Abeles (); Kim Adams (); Siemon Allen (); Leigh Behnke (); Cora Cohen ( - ); Charles F. Gaines (); Kathy Goodell (); Channa Horwitz ( - ); Joel Janowitz (); Amer Kobaslija (); Harriet Korman (); Nora Krug (); David McDonald; Carrie Moyer (); Patti Oleon; Ann Pibal (); Harry Roseman (); Elena Sisto (); Dean Snyder (); Chris Sollars (); Mary Jo Vath; Susan Wanklyn (); [Lilla LoCurto * & William Outcault *] LoCurto & Outcault;
N/A
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Siemon Allen (); Matthew Buckingham (); Delia Brown; Giovanna Maria Cas