Ngisacela uk’thula is related to the healing of spaces that the indigenous people of Southern Africa occupy, and how they are allowed to practice in spaces thatcontinue to haunt them. The practice of ukuZungeza is a meditative process commonly found in Zion churches, commonplace in Southern Africa. The iBandla (people who worship), will be performing this meditative act as an act of healing. Not only for themselves but for the black bodies buried in those spaces and for the bodies which continue to walk through the city daily, only to be sent to the outskirts.
This meditation seeks to align the celestial bodies that could not find their way to the stars, that look up to where they should be, with the bodies that carry through this act of prayer on the ground where the bodies are buried. It is an act of taking back their dignity while addressing the issue of space and whose religion takes precedence in the city center where almost all forms of spirituality is accepted and made space for except their own.
About the Artist
Buhlebezwe Siwani a multidisciplinary artist completed her BAFA (Hons) at the Wits School of Arts in Johannesburg in 2011 and her MFA at the Michaelis School of Fine Arts in 2015 cum laude. She works predominantly in the medium of performance and installations, and includes photographic stills and videos as a stand in for her body which is physically absent from the space. Her work has been described as "revelatory" and "political", encompassing themes of black womanhood and spirituality.
