Ubudlelwane (propinquity) is a collaborative engagement between curators, Greer Valley and Sibonelo Gumede and artists Zawadi Yamungu, Nolan Oswald Dennis, and Vulane Mthembu that took place over five days at the KZNSA Gallery. Taking improvisation, encounter and the relational as methods for questioning together, the installation is part of a process that has relied on contact, confrontation, deliberation and negotiation – a willing immersion in processes of practice that require acts of deep listening. Over the past five days, the group occupied the gallery as a workspace for formulating ideas on ways of working that think with the relationships between land and what it holds in terms of connective memory – notions further elaborated on during visits to Wushwini Art Centre and the Ohlange school built by John and Nokuthela Dube in Inanda.

Zawadi Yamungu refers to the uMakhweyane, a string bow played by women, as an “intimate friend” or deep listener, where the artist communicates with the instrument, expressing the feelings, thoughts, desires and frustrations that would normally be kept private.  These expressions also involve reflections on the connections between land, cultural heritage, memory and colonisation – what Nolan Oswald Dennis refers to as “what has been lost”, therefore, giving voice to the unspeakable.  A relationship is set up between the body of the player and the object body, where the instrument is positioned on the breast, to produce overtones that complete the sound of uMakhweyane.  A bond forms between the two bodies, generating intimate frequencies that are experienced differently from what is heard by the audience.  Yamungu’s sonic overtones are syncopated, situating the sound to specific locations. To transmit the artist’s experience to the audience, the otherwise unheard sound of the calabash has been illuminated through the use of micro-transducers, offering a new approach to listening.

The installation opens to the public on Friday 11 March at 17h00 with a performance by Zawadi Yamungu at 18h30. Entry is free and all are welcome – the Arts Cafe will serve a dinner menu from 17h00.

The project runs until 3 April and is funded by the National Arts Council.