An art exhibition that captures young South Africans' hopes, 'fears, aspirations and disappointments'

In his 1994 inaugural address, President Nelson Mandela shared the following metaphor expressing his aspirations for the new South Africa and its people, one that most viewed as hope for unity: “I have no hesitation in saying each one of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bushveld. Each time one of us touches the soil of this land, we feel a sense of personal renewal.”

Attached to the Soil began in 2019, the 25th anniversary of that statement, as a series of 50 three-part artworks, finalised by the artist Peter Glendinning during his seven months as a Fulbright Scholar in South Africa.

Each work resulted from his collaborations with a young South African who shared their aspirations for their country, their reflections on what they had inherited from past generations, in the form of their own soil-related metaphor. A third collaborator was a person with a life experience related to the young person’s metaphor, whose story was the subject of a portrait both in words and photography. Each young person’s aspirations and each subject’s story are true to themselves while also being representative of so many others like them.  

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As Professor Adam Habib wrote in his insightful foreword to the project: “It tells the stories of these individuals, capturing their hopes, fears, aspirations and disappointments. It speaks of a people who are distinguished by their diversity, emanating as they do from a variety of racial, cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds. All have been marked by the tragic history of racialised exploitation in this land. But all demonstrate in their activities, ambitions and voice how this tragedy did not scar their souls… Peter Glendinning’s South African collaborators have bared their souls and thus provided hope in the midst of social gloom…”

The 50 works that will be on display at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory until the end of August are the foundation for a new phase of expression, in which young South Africans may add their own completed projects, created without Glendinning’s participation, crafted with their phone cameras, intelligence and unique creativity. See here for more information. DM168

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.