Post-Apartheid Performance Art as a Site of Gender Resistance

Author(s): Virginia MacKenny

Source: Agenda, No. 49, Culture: Transgressing Boundaries (2001), pp. 15-24
Published by: Agenda Feminist Media
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4066488
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 Post-apartheid
performanceart cl
L-
]~,

as a site of gender resistance

Performanceart was not particularlyevident in SouthAfricaduring
apartheid.Subsequently,it has been used by SouthAfricanartists to make
apparentways in which the body itself acts as a stage/screen/canvas/site
for history,politics, culture, economics, race and social issues.
VIRGINIA MACKENNY exploreshow' two SouthAfricanwomen artists,
Carol-anneGainerand TraceyRose, have utilisedperformanceart as a site
of gender resistancein the SouthAfricancontext
A perfor-
Performanceart2is anextremely
broad Utilisingperformanceart as an manceartist
categoryencompassing a varietyof alternativeto workingin historicallymale-
dominatedarenas of culturalproduction, exhibitsher
activities,stylesandintentions. Itis
appliedto 'live'presentations byartists,but CheriGaulkeexemplifiesthe attitudeof or himself,
definitionsof it areofteninthenegative,in many feministartists:
becoming
termsof howit is notliketheatreordance inperformance we foundan artformthat
(Walker, 1977).Atitsmostbasic,a perfor- was young, without the traditionof boththe
manceartistexhibitsherorhimself,becoming painting or sculpture- without the
traditions
governedby men (Goldberg, subjectand
boththesubjectandtheobjectof thework.
IntheWest,performance arthas come 1998:129). the objectof
to occupya specificplacein contemporary The presence of the livingbody itself,
thework
artmaking.Connecting itselfto issuesof particularlyin the case of women practi-
protest- literally manifesting itselfin tionersin the field, engages all the
'action/s'- it has givenan arenato many contingentissues of such a presence:the
whohavefeltdisenfranchised. Women socio-culturalunderstandingsof the body,
artistsin particular,havechosento use what it represents/meansand what it 'is',
performance artto 'expose,controvert and how it means, who determinesthe
subverthiddenideologiesthatperpetuate explicationof that body,the mannerin
archaicpatternsof malepower'(McEvilley which it is presentedas well as how it is
in Rosen,1989:190-191).Thiswas receivedor 'seen' and issues of what has
particularlytruein the late'60s andearly come to be called, 'the gaze' - who is doing
'70s inAmericawhen,inthe climateof the looking.
protestconstituted by the civilrights In patriarchy,woman is associated with
movementandsecondwavefeminism3, the 'body'.The dominantheterosexual
feministartistsbroughttheirconcernsoutin hierarchiesinscribedby this gender
the open,directlyconfronting a complexity association,wherethe body is seen as
of genderissuesrangingfromrape4to the marginal(to the male arenas of mind and
paucityof womensuccessfullyactivein the logos which constitutethe dominant
fieldof art5. discourse) leave it not only as a potential

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 POST-APARTHEID
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OFGENDER
RESISTANCE
Carol-anneGainer,
site of subversion(Ramsay,1995), but also
piece
performance
an important,and necessary site of gender
AfterManet
resistance.HeleneCixous (1986) and Luce
(Olympia)fromher
Irigaray(1985), both Frenchpost-modern
exhibition
Exposed
feminists6workingwithpsychoanalyticideas
(1999)in its
aroundgender,referto whathas come to be
incarnation
at the
called the 'masquerade'7or 'double
MarketGallery,
discourse'.This 'masquerade'or 'masking'
Johannesburg
occurs when women play withtheir
assigned genderroles in multiple,often
contradictoryways - adopting,adapting,
overlayingand subvertingthe hegemonic
discoursein the process.
Thesite'in-between'
Since the patriarchal
discoursetendsto adopt
Performancea positionof 'either/or'in its conceptionof the
artis one of world(dividingeverythingintobinary
oppositions,each withits own hierarchy-
the prime note thatin the pairsactivity/passivity,
'stages'to mind/body,rational/emotional, culture/nature,
the firstin the pairis not only privilegedover
re-imagine the otherbutis also associatedwiththat
gender whichconstitutesthe masculine)many
feministsneatlyconfusethe issues by
identity adoptingpositionsof 'both/and'.Thisallows
paradoxicaloppositessuch as the
'constructed'andthe 'essential'to exist
togetherin the same place.Thusin Carol-
16
U U1
~~~~~~~z
anne Gainer's(AfterAlanet)Olympia8 the
symbolicandthe literalco-exist.Herethe
bodyexists as 'experiential site',the artist
literallyis the artworkand as 'siteof
representation,' she, amongstotherthings,
representsanotherartwork.The piece can't
be reducedto either- it fluctuates,remains
ambivalent(Allsoppand De La Hunta,1996).
Itis this ambivalence,this site 'in-between',
thatis the concernof muchpost-modern
practice.Renderingthe symbolicliteralin this
way disruptsconventionsand demandsa
reassessmenton the partof the viewer.
Furthercomplicatingthe interpretation,
JudithButler,a leadingqueertheorist,points
out in GenderTrouble:Feminismand the
Subversionof Identity(1990) thatfeminism
worksagainstits aims if it takes 'women'as
its groundingcategory.Gender,accordingto
Butler,not only 'operatesas a regulatory
constructthat privilegesheterosexuality'but
it is also a 'culturalfiction',a 'performative
effect of reiterativeacts' (Jagose, 1996:84).
Ifit is 'an act' it means that we can't search
for some essentialcore withinit. Itfollows
thatwhatconstitutes'woman'(or man) is
also constructed.Since genderis an
'ongoingdiscursivepractice....open to
interventionand resignification'(Butler,
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1990:17)identityis opento reworking and firmlyinthecontextof modernism, theydo

repositioningandthusis always'in-between'
positionsandneverfixed.Performance artis
oneof theprime'stages'to re-imagine
of
genderidentityas it allowsa rescripting
conventions anda 'playingout'of such
rescripting.
Theideaof 'performing identity'
highlightsthe presenceof a viewerforwhom
the 'performance'is enacted.Thisvieweris
presumed to be male,as is evidentwhen
JohnBerger(1972:47)observes:
menactand womenappear.Menlookat
women.Womenwatchthemselvesbeing
lookedat.
Whilst20 yearslaterCamillePaglia
notedthatthe ideaof themalegazehas
becomea 'stalecliche....(a)tiresome
assumption of feministdiscourse'(1992:85)
it stillremainsa
fundamentalconcept:that in modern
westernsocietiesthe one who sees and
the one who is seen are gendered
positions(Daly, 1989 in Ramsay,
1995:49).
Gainer's
Carol-anne performance
AfterManet(Olympia),in herexhibition
'Ex-posed' (1999),continuesthislineof
interrogationwhileat thesametime
highlightingissuesparticular to theSouth
Africancontext.Creating a post-modern
takeon a keyworkinthe modernist canon,
Manet'sOlympia,Gaineroccupiesthe
positionof VictorineMeurend9, themodel
whoposedforManet.
Gainer's choiceof Olympiais important
hereas whenit wasfirstshown,thepainting,
despiteestablishing its credentialsby
references to thegrandlineageof Titianand
Goya,causeda scandal.As recentlyas
1972,formalist criticscontinued to attribute
theupsetto Manet'spaintingstyle- for
instancehis 'brutalcontrasts' and'thewillto
thefactthathe flattened
simplify', thescene
andforcedhisviewersto look'athispicture
ratherthanintoit'(Schneider, 1972).Whilst
theseformalconsiderations placethework
notinvestigate thesocio-political and
gender-related implications of thework.
Itwasleftto feministarttheoristssuch
as Griselda Pollock(1988),LindaNochlin
(1989)andRebeccaSchneider(1997)to
explicatetheseissues.Intheiranalysis,
Manet'sOlympiadisrupted thesocietal
expectations of whoshouldbe lookingat
whatandhow.Sincetraditionally womenare
depictedforthesatisfaction of men,to be
lookedat, objectified,whattheymustnotdo
is indicatesomeelementof thesubject,an Men's
abilityto lookback.Manet'sOlympia
appearsto dojustthat.Addingto the 19th traditional
centuryParisian maleviewers'discomfort,locationas
themodelwasidentifiable, an acknowledged
courtesan.Herpresenceinthehallowed voyeurand
hallsof theSalonmadepublicthatprivate women'sas
worldof menandpresentedit to theirwives
anddaughters narcissist
- to the 'ladies'whomustnot
knowof suchthings.Manet'sOlympiawas, however,is
a civicaffront.
quiteliterally,
not
Dual positions necessarily
Thegeneralhistoryof theactivemaleandthe
passivefemale'assignedto womentheroleof fixedbut
modelrather in
thantheartist'(McEvilley interdepen-
Rosen,1989:190-191). In Gainer
'Ex-posed',
artistandmodel.
occupiesa dualposition: dentand
Conflating the
theseroles,she prevents shifting
of binaryoppositions
possibility beingneatly
distinguishedfromeachother.Gainer's piece
blursthedistinction betweenartist/art,
artist/model,constructor/constructed,
finder/found,mind/body, subject/object.
Thisdenialof cleardistinctionspresents
thepossibilityof a curiousfusionof
voyeurism andnarcissism. Schneider(1997)
notesthatwhilethestatusof womanas sex
object(givento be seen)is difficultto
change,it is important to explorehowwe
apprehend thespacebetweenthemale
(givento know)andthefemale(givento be
known).Suchan exploration revealsthe
dynamicsof westerncultural waysof
knowing - a traditionwrappedupin visuality,

492001
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a visuality whichis proprietary,
transcendent
of tactilityandessentiallyseparatefromthe
objectwhichit apprehends.
Men'straditional locationas voyeur
(subject- the onewholooksat theother)
andwomen'sas narcissist(object- theone
wholooksat herselfinthecontextof being
lookedat by the 'subject')however,is not
necessarily fixedbutinterdependent and
shifting.Thestructure of thegazeis 'an
"insideout"one ratherthana simple
subject/object dichotomy' (Partington,
1990).Gainer, exposedto theviewers'sight,
alsoexposesthatself-sameviewerto
scrutiny, makingtheviewerself-conscious
of theirownlookingthroughawarenessof
anotherlookingat theirlooking.Thepower
Womenare of thegazeis revealedin a directand
discomforting way.
plaguedby
Inaddition, as mentioned thereis
earlier,
theirrepre- alsoa collapseof thedistinctionbetweenthe
sentation, literalandtherepresentational.Schneiderin
herbook, TheExplicitBody in Performance,
their (1997)elaborates onthisissueindetail.She
symbolic notesthatforwomento be seen'forwhat
theyreallyare'is virtually impossible.
functions Womenareplaguedbytheirrepre-
andtheir sentation, theirsymbolicfunctions andtheir
rolesin societyto sucha degreethatit is
rolesin thesethatareseenratherthantheindividual. someoneelse in the positionof servant
society Woman, as sign,is so constituted as signifier withinthework.Thispointis particularly
andsignified, thatit is impossibleforsome
authentic individual to be seenbehindthe
sign- 'woman'is thus'unpresentable except on race,andits manywhitemadamswith
as representation' (de Lauretis, 1987:20).
Schneider sees theneedto collapsethegap
betweensignandsignified - arguingthatthe
bodyperformers makethisgapapparent by
'provoking its implosion acrossthevisceral
spaceof theirownbodies'(1997:23).
Re-presentation
Gainercollapsesthe gapby engagingissues a predominantly
of signification directlywithherbody,re-
presenting a presentation.
Inthisre-presentation, Gainer'sactual
presencecreatesa discomfort fortheviewer invisible'(a whitebodyis notreadas
18
becausethevieweris 'foundguilty'of
objectifiedlookingandbecomesawarethat
he/shehas been'seen'orcaughtin the act
of suchlooking- whatis generallycovertis
revealed.'Guilt'is alsoembeddedin Manet's
Olympiain anotherform.Included inthe
painting,butnotoftendiscussed,is a black
servingwomanwhostandsbehindOlympia
holdinga bunchof flowerstowardsthe
viewer.Schneider givesa revealinganalysis
of herpositionandfunctionin thepainting
indicatingthatshe canbe readas
encapsulating the sexualelementin the
Shecan be seen
painting.
relative to pretexts of contemporary
racismand sexismas underscoring the
dangerous 'primitive' nature of
uncontrolledfemalesexuality(Schneider,
1997:27).
She becomesan 'iconicstand-infor
Olympia's ownsexuality'(Gilman,1985in
Schneider, 1997:27).
Whilstmostartistsalludingto the
Olympialeaveoutallreference to thisfigure
withno explanation, Gaineris clearin
statingthatforher,theomissionwasa
consciousone. Havingalreadydecidedto
use herselfandnothirea modelto pose as
Olympia,she feltshe couldnotexploit
pertinent in a countrysuchas SouthAfrica
withits historicalimbalance of powerbased
maids.Gainerhere,acknowledges a crisisof
consciencewhichmanywhiteartistsinthe
SouthAfricancontextareconfronted by.
Gainer, conscientisedto herskincolour,
includeda printof theoriginalOlympiaon
displayin the exhibitionforthosewiththe
eye to makecomparisons andnotethe
omission.Thework,however, whenreadby
whiteaudience,is seen as
raciallyneutral.Schneider notesthat
'without a blackbodyto distinguish it,
whitenessin whitecultureappearsto be
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markedby race)(Schneider,
1997:31).Whattheomissionmay
thenserveto reinforce, is a colour-
blindnessthatdoes notovertly
challengeentrenched perceptions of
race.Theblackserving-woman's
inclusionmighthaveensureda more
complicated readingof 'exposure',
giventhe linksbetweenracismand
sexism,butwouldthenhaverisked
beinglabelledexploitative. Her :7
exclusion,on theotherhand,can
alsobe seen as reinforcing an z
racistposition".Included
historically
or excluded,resolutionis not
reachable.Thisinability to reach
closureora pointof satisfactory
the inextricable
solution,highlights
linkbetweenrace,genderandpower
in any discussionof identityin SouthAfrica.
Deconstructionof such patternsof
poweris particularlypertinentto artists
livingoutsidethe hegemony or centre (as
definedby the West).Monolithicmeta-
narrativesare thus examinedand decon-
structedmost stronglyby those who are
marginalised.Thus it is fromthe positionof
'Other'that most re-definitionsof identity
arise. Drawingoff personalexperience,
resistinghomogenisation,or the
exclusionarycategoriesof 'Self', at the
same time they critiqueand challenge
perceptionsof the 'Other'.
It is just such concerns that are central
to the workof TraceyRose, an artistof
mixed race. Rose explicitlygrappleswith
issues of identitywithinthe South African
context as definedby both race and gender.
Whilstthe tendency to categorise people
raciallyis seen as intrinsicto the apartheid
era, it is a lesser knownfact that the
categories 'African'and 'coloured'were
formedas early as 1904 (Ernstzen,1999).
Priorto 1904, all officialsources referredto
those who were laterto be called 'coloured'
and 'African'people as 'non-European"'.
FrantzFanon,psychiatristand black
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Rose,
Tracey
revolutionaryactivistwho exploredthe piece
peformance
psychologicaland culturalalienationinduced SpanH
by colonisationin BlackSkin, WhiteMasks
(1952), pointsout thatthe black man'2is
'overdetermined fromwithout',he becomes
no more, no less than his skin colour:the
whitegaze dehumanises,paralysesand kills
him. Likea laboratoryspecimen, he says,
'slowlyI am being dissectedunderwhite
eyes, the only realeyes' (Fanon, 1952:116).
Whilsta blackwomanin a whiteuniverse
carriesa primaryidentityof blackness,in a
blackcommunityher identityis firstand
foremostthat of a woman(Epstein,1998). It Museums
is thus throughboththe whitegaze and the
andgalleries
male gaze that Rose has firstto define
herselfin the publicworld. needto be
Underthese constraints,Rose presents
considered
herselfwhereshe can be most scrutinised:in
a glass case. At the second Johannesburg in termsof
Bienniale19973, in Span IlTraceyRose sat,
'culturesof
nakedand shaven,in a museumdisplay
case. She was knottingthe hairthatshe had display'
shavenoff in a previousperformance'4 and
was perchedon an upturnedtelevisionset
showingthe imageof a recliningnude.
Directlyengagingwithofficiallyauthorised
and sanctionedformsof displayshe conflates
19
 ART
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theartisticandthescientific.
Both,withinthe positioning23 sanctioned,as it is, by heaven
westerntradition,layclaimto universal - one is on the side of God or one isn't, one
value.Western claims
science,in particular, is fullyhumanor one isn't. Such thinking
and'genderneutral"5,
to be 'objective' but, providedthe structurefor an entire
as LuceIrigaraypointsout,thevery worldview- one followedfaithfullyby the
languageof researchclaimsan objectivityit ChristianNationalEducationsystem of the
doesnothave:'neither 1,noryou,norwe NationalPartyduringthe apartheidera.
appearsinthelanguageof science'(Irigaray Whilstsuch binariesare the way we
inTong,1989:228).Allwesternsystemsof normallysee the South Africanpolitical
culturaldescriptionare'deeplycontaminated situation,in fact thingswere further
withthepolitics,considerations,
positions complicatedby a politicalsystem that did
andstrategiesof power'of theWest6(Moore- not simply dividethe worldinto two (black
Gilbert,1997:34). and white), but four (includingIndianand
coloured)24. The implicationsof this for
Roseutilises Strategies of resistance Fanon'sbinariesare not simple. On the one
a strategyof InSpan11,Rosereferences thewestern hand, the inclusionof Indiansand coloureds
traditionof exhibiting peopleof colour'7 in in racialcategorisationsimply disassembles
resistance of live
thename sciencethrough exhibitions, the singular'Other'into a numberof
andmimes museumtableaux'8, orthedissectionand component'others',continuingto reinforce
embalming of bodypartsof native'others' the hegemonic whitepositionof 'Self', but
themimes (themostpertinent to the SouthAfrican on the otherhand, it also bringsinto play an
menhave contextbeingSaartjeBaartman, a young 'in-between'positionwhichsubvertsthe
Khoisan'9 womandisplayedforherunique apparentclarityof the black/whitedivide.
imposedon genitaliaandsteatopygia, orenlarged Racialidentitybecomes particularly
women buttocks).EmmaBarkerin herintroduction difficultto determinein the coloured
to Contemporary Cultures ofDisplay,notes community.Ironically, whilst'coloured'is a
creatinga thatmuseumsandgalleriesarenot'neutral historical,white-imposedcategorisation,the
doubling containers of a transparent, unmediated two majorgovernmentCommissionsof
experience', andhencetheyneedto be Inquiry(1937 and 1976) intothe historyand
back intermsof 'cultures of display'
considered originsof the colouredpeople, provedunable
(Barker, 1999:8).Themuseumdisplaycase to agree on a definitionof 'coloured'
thusbecomesa siteof definition andre- (Ernstzen1999). By definitionmixed- purity
definitionand,in Rose'scase, it is thesiteof does not and cannotexist withinthis
a redefinition Roseutilises,as
of identity. particularracialgrouping- differenceand
Irigaraysuggests,a strategyof resistance20 sameness exist at the same time in the same
andmimesthe mimesmenhaveimposed place/person.Colouredidentityexists then,
on womencreatinga doublingback- one in a place of constantslippage- 'Other'is
that'intendsto undotheeffectsof here bothblackand white,but also neither
phallocentric discoursesimplyby overdoing blacknorwhite:same but different,and
them'(MoiinTong1989:228).Bychoosing rejectedas such by bothsides.
to go on display,Rosehighlights the issues Consciousambivalencethus marks
of powerwithinsuchdisplay. Rose's work.In Span aIshe engages with
Fanonelucidated thedistinctions this when she displaysher own naked body
betweenblackandwhitein termsof and workswithher own hair,referencing
Manichean2' thinking wherebybinary officialattemptsto define identityas
oppositions suchas light/dark, God/Satan22 determinedboth by her skin colourand her
represent extremelypowerful oppositional hairtype. Hairwas used by the apartheid

20 AGENDA
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authorities in a 'test'knownas the pencil
test,to determine whatracialcategoryone
mightoccupy.Thepenciltest resolvedif
one'shairwasstraight(gladde) orcurly
(kroes)- 'kroes'hairwrapped aroundthe
pencilanddefinedone as havinga coloured
heritage(Kellner, 1999).
Whilsthairis utilisedas a signof
politicalclassification,a pinioningof
identity,it alsoreinforces a slippageof
identitywhichRoseacknowledges by
remarking that,
incoloured
Hairissignificant communities.
It marksyou in certainways, towards
blacknessorwhiteness(myemphasis).
She alsonotesthatthiscreatesa
tensionwithinthe community:
It'sabouttheprivilegeof havingstraight
hairas opposedto 'kroes'hair,buton the
otherhand, havingstraighthairmeant
you wereofteninsultedforthinkingyou
were white,forpretendingto be white
(Bester,1998:92).
Inaddition,in herworkhairalsoimplies
a less certainpositionin relationto sexual
identity:
by thefactthatbodyhairon
I'mintrigued
a woman'sstomachand nipplesborders
on masculinity.Confrontingthis hairis,
to someextent,aboutconfronting sexual
ambiguity(Bester,1998:92-93).
Ongetiteld(Untitled)(1997) is a video
performance whereRoseis presented
shavingoffallherbodyhair.Commenting
on thisshe says:
(It)is aboutbothde-masculating andde-
feminisingmy body, shaving off the
masculineandfemininehair.Thiskindof
carrieswith it a certain
de-sexualisation
kind of violence. The piece is about
makingmyself unattractive and unap-
pealing. But what was disconcerting
about making the work was that I
suddenlybecameattractiveto a whole
different group of people (Bester,
1998:92-93).
Performedin a smallcell-likebathroom
andfilmedfroma highviewpoint as though
492001
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froma surveillance camera,Ongetiteld
presents her naked and alone- availableto
scrunity.Heridentityseemsdefinedby
outsidecontrol.Suchreferencesin the
presentSouthAfricancontextcan be
ascribedto the constantpresenceof the
SecurityBranch(BOSS- aptlynamed
Bureauof StateSecurity)whosejobit was
to keepan eye on anydissidentbehaviour,
andthe subsequent possibilityof
incarceration foranybodyresistantto the
SouthAfricanregime.By virtueof her
colouralone,Roseis different (fromthe
rulingpower),andtherefore'Other', Rose'swork
therefore dissident.Inaddition, the space
alsobecomesa confessional - a confes- underscores
sionalthatreveals,butalsoconceals. issuesof
StemmingdirectlyfromRose'sCatholic
upbringing, the referenceto a penanceand identitythat
purgingis an intenselypersonalone. But areoften
herparanoiaof a Godthatwatchesyou
summonsto mindFanon'sreferenceto invisible
Manichean thinkingwhichgovernsthewhite giventhe
man'sviewof the blackman'spositionin
the universe- a positionthatthe personof larger,more
colourunwittingly takeson. dominant
Rose'sworkthusunderscores issuesof
identitythatareofteninvisiblegiventhe
debatesover
larger,moredominant debatesoverblack blackand
andwhiteidentity.
Thepatentlyhistorical sourceof Rose's white
racialidentityreinforcesthe "'fictional" identity
natureof foundingconceptssuchas
andthe "subject"'
"totalities"
"origins",
(Moore-Gilbert, 1997:99).Rose'sawareness
of a fundamental to findcertitude
inability
withinherownpositionallowsherto speak
from'withindoubt'.Thisthenis a subject
positionthatknowsitselfto be uncertain
andhenceobjectsto singularreadings.
LikeGainer, Rosedoesnotutilisethe
spokenorwritten wordwithinthe
performance". InLacanian terms,languageis
associatedwithmen- Lacancallsitthe'Law
of theFather'.Intheworkof Sigmund Freud
andJaquesLacan,theacquisition of
languageis seenas a keymomentinthe
21
 POST-APARTHEID
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formationof identity.Priorto thatthe bodyis
somatic:pre-language,experientialand
thereforeseen as authentic.Women
associatedby proxywiththe body,are
thereforeseen as operatingin this arena.The
catch is thatin Lacanianterms,the somatic
body is pre-Symbolicwhich,by definition,
means it has not the wordsto expressitself
and is thereforesilent.Thiswouldseem to
createa conundrumforwomen;their
'authentic'unmediatedvoice, by definition,
can'tbe heardandthey remainmarginalised,
subordinateandwithouta 'voice'.
Gainerand Thisbeliefof 'non-expression', though,is
Roseengage based on the West'sprivilegingof the word.In
addition,the abilityto speak does not
in a formof necessarilymean one willbe heard.In
Spivak'sCanthe SubalternSpeak?speech is
micro-
a dialogicprocess- a 'transactionbetween
resistance
speakerand listener'(Kilburn,1996) thatis;
whereby to speak is not onlyto give voice, but also to
be heard26. LikeGainer's'Ex-Posed'Rose's
theyutilise piece is silent,butit 'speaks'.By personally
theirown occupyingthe space she activatesit -
speechless, she communicates;by
bodiesto confrontingthe viewerwiththe spectacleof
address display,she createsrecognitionof complicity,
forcingthe viewerto enterintoan areaof
issuesof responsibility27,a dialogicengagementthat
genderin may yet allowthe subalternto be heard.
BothGainerand Rose engage in a form
theSouth of micro-resistance wherebythey utilisetheir
own bodiesto addressissues of genderin the
African
SouthAfricancontext.Bothreferenceforms
context of previousculturaldisplay,mimickingthem
whilstat the same time challengingthe
viewer'sexpectationsof them.Thisprocessis
direct,butat the same time oblique,discrete
butat the same time confrontational. Their
workdoes not purportto provideanswers,but
insteadhighlightsdoubtand uncertainty
therebydislodgingnotionsof the fixityof
identityand activatingand acknowledgingthe
body as a continuingsite of resistance.
REFERENCES
AllsoppR & De LaHuntaS (eds) (1996) The
ConnectedBody?An Interdisciplinary
22
Approachto theBodyand Performance,
AmsterdamReadingson theArtsand Arts
Education,Amsterdam: Amsterdam
Schoolof the Arts.
BarkerE (ed) (1999) Contemporary Cultures
of Displayfromthe series'Artandits
Histories',NewHavenand London:Yale
UniversityPressin conjunctionwiththe
OpenUniversity.
BergerJ (1972) Waysof Seeing,London:
BritishBroadcasting andPenguinBooks
Ltd.
BesterR (1998) Democracy's Images- Photo-
graphyand VisualArtAfterApartheid,
Umea:BildMuseet,UmeaUniversity.
ButlerJ (1990) 'Performative acts andgender
constitution:an essay in phenomenology
andfeministtheory'in S Case (ed)
Performing Feminisms: FeministCritical
Theoryand Theatre,Baltimore: John
HopkinsUniversityPress.
ButlerJ (1993) BodiesThatMatter- On the
DiscursiveLimitsof 'Sex',NewYork:New
York.
CixousH (1986) 'Sorties'in TheNewlyBorn
Woman(translation, BetsyWing),
Minneapolis: Universityof Minnesota.
De LaurentisT (1987)Technologies of Gender,
Bloomington: IndianaUniversity Press.
EpsteinD (1998) 'Marked men:whitenessand
masculinity'in Agenda,37.
ErnstzenJ (1999) Identityand Citizenship of
the ColouredCommunityin the Western
CapeProvinceof theRepublicof South
Africa,Departmentof Anthropology and
Sociology,Universityof the WesternCape,
http://www.arts.uwa.edu.au/ASCWA/confe
rence99/abstractErnstzen.html
FanonF (1952) BlackSkin, WhiteMasks
(translation,CharlesLamMarkmann),
NewYork:GrovePress(1965).
GoldbergR (1979) Performance - LiveArt
1909to the Present,NewYork:HarryN
Abrams.
GoldbergR (1988) Performance Art:From
Futurismto thePresent,London:Thames
and Hudson.
GoldbergR (1998) Performance -Live Art
since the'60s, London:Thamesand
Hudson.
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IrigarayL (1985) ThisSex which is NotOne and Designsince 1945,London:Clive

CatherinePorter),NewYork:
(translation, BingleyLtd.
CornellUniversityPress. WyrickD (1997) FanonforBeginnersWriters
Jagose A (1996) QueerTheory:An andReaders,NewYork:UnwinPaperbacks.
Introduction,NewYork:NewYork
UniversityPress. FOOTNOTES
KellnerC (1999) 'AHistoryof Invention'in 1 'How'hereistakento meanboththeformthatthe
specificperformance artunderexamination takes,as
co.@rtnews, February 1999. wellasthemanner andscopeof engagement ofthe
Kilburn M (1996) Glossaryof KeyTermsin the workunderconsideration. Itis notwithinthescopeof
Workof GayatriChakravorty Spivak, to explainwhyperformance
thearticle artaroseso
http://www.emory.edu/Glossary.html muchmoreactively atthistime(asopposed tothe
EM(ed)(1983) Chambers periodpriorto democracy) - instead theintention isto
Kirkpatrick
analysetwowomenartists working withissuesof
TwentiethCenturyDictionary,Edinburgh:
genderandidentity.
ChaucerPressLtd.
2. 'Performanceart'isalsoknownas:BodyArt,Process
Moore-Gilbert B (1997) PostcolonialTheory- Art,Happening,
Art,Street Action ArtorAktionen
Contexts,Practices,PoliticsVerso,New (Germany), Fluxus, ArtTotal, ArtAktuel, Living
York:Verso. Theatre
Sculpture, of Life,Time-based Art,LiveArt,
NochlinL (1989) Women,Art,and Powerand Art,'non-matrixed
Interactive representation'or,simply,
otherEssays,London:Thamesand Sincethe'70s'performance
'self-experience'. art'has
generallybeenaccepted astheall-embracing term
Hudson.
despitethedislikesomeartists havefortheimplications
PagliaC (1992) Sex,Artand American ofentertainment embodied intheword'performance'.
CultureVintage,NewYork:Vintage. 3. FirstWaveFeminism, situated inthelate19thandearly
Partington A (1990) 'TheGenderedGaze'in N 20thcentury, washighlypoliticised andmainly
Honey(ed) Womanto Woman,England: concerned withsecuring womenthevote.Second
HexagonEditions. WaveFeminism, popularly knownas 'Women's Lib',
PollockG (1988) Visionand Difference - becameprominent inthelate'60sandearly'70sand
wasconcerned witha widerrangeof women's rights
Femininity,Feminismand the Historiesof Third Wave
suchasequalpayandsexualequality.
Art,London:Routledge. Feminism overtly acknowledges thatthe'sisterhood' is
RamsayB (1995) TheMaleDancer- Bodies, notascohesiveas itlikedtothink,divided as it is by
Spectacle,Sexualities,London:Routledge. race,classandsexualorientation.
RosenR (1989) MakingTheirMark- Women 4. InAblutions (1972)forinstance, JudyChicago,
ArtistsMoveintotheMainstream 1970-85, Suzanne Lacy,Sandra OrgelandAvivaRahmani held
NewYork:AbbeyvillePress. consciousness-raising sessions thatdealtwiththe
trauma of rapeusingtape-recordings ofwomen
SaidE (1978) Orientalism, London:Routledge describingtheirordeals.
and KeganPaul.
5. Thelackof prominence of womenintheannalsof art
SchneiderP (1972) TheWorldof Manet1832- hasbeenexplored
history byfeminist writers-
1883,Netherlands: TimeLifeBooks. prominent amongthemareParker RandPollock G
SchneiderR (1997) TheExplicitBody in (1981)OldMistresses; Women ArtandIdeology and
Performance, London:Routledge. LindaNochlin (1973)Whyhavetherebeennogreat
womenartists?
SkotnesP (ed) (1996) Miscast- Negotiating
the Presenceof the Bushmen,CapeTown: 6. Cixous, however, tendsto resistthecategorisation of
Universityof CapeTownPress. feministwhenitsfocusisontheequality ofthesexes-
herparticular
emphasis isonthe'feminine' - a term
ThompsonKA(1998) 'Post-Colonial whichsheutilises specificallyto mark sexualdifference.
Performance and Installation
Art',
7. Theterm'masquerade' wasfirstcoinedbyJoanRiviere
http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/Bahri/P&I asMasquerade', in
(1929)inheressay,'Womanliness
Art.html TheIntemational Joumal of Psychoanalysis.
TongR (1989) FeministThought- A 8. Thisworkwillbediscussed inmoredetailshortly.
Comprehensive NewYork:
Introduction, 9. MuchasCarolee Schneeman didinMinkPawsTurret
Routledge. (1963)andagainwithRobert Morris inSite(1964)and
WalkerJA (1977) Glossaryof Art,Architecture Yasumasa Morimura inhisrendition of Olympia where

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henotonlyexplored genderissueswithintheWest, eg the/Xam,theIlXegwi, and

the!Xo,theHai//om
butreferenced theeastern Kabukitraditionsof manyothers(Skotnes,
1996).
onnagatawheremenperformed femaleroles 20. Thisisthethirdofthreestrategies
Irigaraysuggested
(Goldberg, 1998). aimedatenabling womanto liberate herselffromthe
10. White,middle-class feminists havebeenaccusedby margins of maleideology.Thefirstistopayattentionto
blackfeminists ofdefining women's issuesbywhite, thenature of languageandto adopttheactivevoice
middle-class norms thereby women's
essentialising ratherthananimpossible one.The
gender-neutral
issuesandoverlooking andexcluding blackwomen's secondistoexpress femalesexuality,whichsheclaims
concerns (Schneider,1997). unlikethesingular,
is anarenaof plurality linearnature
11. Theterm'non-European' continued whentherewas of malesexuality(Tong,1989).
needtocollectively groupthe'Other'. 21. Iranianfaith- mainreligionpractisedbytheBalduri
12. Fanon, writing ashedidbeforetheimpact offeminism, pertainingtofollowersof ManiorManichaeus, a
usesthemalepronoun to includethefemale. nativeof Ecbatana (AD216- 276)whotaught that
everythingsprang fromtwochiefprinciples, lightand
13. Theofficial titleofthebienniale was'Trade routes-
darkness,orgoodandevil(Kirkpatrick, 1983).
history andgeography' curated byOkwuiEnwezor.
22. Otheroppositionswouldincludereason/emotion,
14. InUntitled(1997)Roseshaved ofallherbodyhair.
thought/sex,
truth/error,
nobility/baseness,
15. Science,shededuces, withitspassive voiceand civilisation/savagery,
sun/moon, left/right,
right/wrong,
keenness toforbid the'subjective'notonlydistances plus/minusandsoon.
itselffromtheobjectto bestudied, butalsohidesthe
23. HeleneCixiousdeclared
suchbinary oppositionsin
identity ofthespeaker. Thegender-neutral voicemasks
of termsof women's intheworldas'death-
position
thedominant malevoice.Knowledge
'all-inclusive'
thesamecouldalsobe saidintermsof race.
dealing';
the'Other' wasnotpurely a disinterested
observation
of difference, butservedasa meansof reinforcing both 24. Thesituation wasfurther complicatedbythe
colonialandpatriarchal power.Itcould,inaddition, introductionoftheTricameral Parliamentin 1982,
beusedtofurther theillusion ofwestern and
scientific whichgavecoloured andIndian communities thevote
intellectual supremacy andtojustify colonialismasa whilststillwithholdingthatrightfromtheAfrican
civilisingmission (Wyrick, 1997). population. Thispolitical
movebytheapartheid
16. Edward Said's seminalOrientalism (1978)amply government successfully
disrupted anysenseof a
revealed theWest's research bias. homogenous blackidentitythatmighthavebeen
developing amongst thecoloured, Indian
andAfricans.
17. Suchdisplays stillremain withinthecollections of
Museum 25. Theaccompanying pieceSpanI does,however, rely
manywestern museums, suchastheBritish
andthe heavilyon words consistingof an ex-prisoner
(male)
(seeitsever-popular Egyptian mummy section)
Museede l'Homme inParis.Asrecently as 1997a writingRose's onthegallery
'confession' wall.
museum outside Barcelona removed a stuffedbushman 26. Thisargument is made very stronglybySpivak in
fromitspermanent display aftersustainedinternational response herpointandattempting
tocriticsmissing to
pressure (Thompson, 1998.InSouthAfrica the rebutherbyrecording instancesof burningwidows
controversiallifecastsoftheBushmen intheSouth cryingoutduring Sati(theritualburningof widowson
African Museum wereremoved frompublicdisplay theirhusbands funeralpyres).
earlierthisyear. 27. Spivak'susageof 'responsibility' notonlythe
signifies
18. Mostof suchtableaux weredisplayed intheNatural actof responsewhichcompletes thetransactionof
Sciencesections of museums - clearlysignallingthe speaker andlistener,butalsotheethicalstanceof
perception thatsuchpeopleswereclosertoanimals making roomforthe'Other'
discursive toexist-
than'civilised'human beings. Thatthiswaschillingly iethicsarenotjusta problem of knowledge, buta call
thecaseisgraphically illustratedinthefrontispieceto toa relationship'
(Kilburn,1996).
Pippa Skotnes bookMiscast - NegotiatingthePresence
of the Bushmen(1996)wherea pricelistforanauction
of skins(1840)is presented. Thefirstentry,underthe
heading 'Saugethiere' (mammals), isskinof a Virginia MacKenny isapractising and
artist
'Bushman woman'. lecturer atTechnikon Natal where shelectures
19. Theterm'Khoisan' itselfistheEuropeancolonists' Painting
andArtTheory.
Sherecently
received
conflation and'San'- thisconflation
of 'Khoi' inname herMasters
inGender
Studies
(cumlaude)at
isa clearindication of,asSaidhadnoted,theWest's theUniversity
ofNatal
whereherthesis
topic
tendency to homogenise difference.
Generally
known
astheBushmen (atermthatinitsownrighthasfallen
was'Re-Presenting - Performance
Identities
inandoutoffavour) a diversity
of peoplescameunder ArtinSouth
Africa
post-Apartheid'
thistitlewithdifferentlanguages,customs andhistories

24 AGENDA
492001