Exploring The Politics Of Identity

Karen Rutter, Editor-in-Chief of www.weekendspecial.co.za interviews multidisciplinary artist Thania Petersen

- Karen Rutter

Ariot of colorful books line the walls, bright art materials over a swath of trestle tables, and Grace Jones is singing MyJamaican Guy in the background. In the foreground, multidisciplinary artist Thania Petersen, in a funky red-patterned coat and hot yellow scarf, is busy editing images on her computer and keeping an eye on her WhatsApp messages. It feels like being in someone’s lounge – comfy and welcoming. Except this lounge is also filled with something else – potential and possibility.

Welcome to the Atelier Residency programme in the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, where Thania will be ‘living’ until mid-October this year. The residency is situated on the second floor of the museum, in a series of spacious rooms in which she can work, chill, get inspired, and also interact with the public. It’s an open, experimental area which Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator at Zeitz MOCAA, says allows for “alternate perceptions of how artists create, and also how art is consumed and engaged with.” Thania is the third artist to be invited, following the residencies of Kemang Wa Lehulere and Haroon Gunn-Salie.

Thania is curious to see how the residency will unfold. The books, the art materials, and further along the corridor, her embroidery tools, video costumes, and props, point to a person getting settled in with her ‘stuff’. But it’s still uncharted territory. Enabling people to watch her at work, browse through her eclectic reference books, and ask questions, is novel.