Search Results
142 results found with an empty search
- Transitions (MICA) | Paul Emmanuel
Paul Emmanuel TRANSITIONS (2011) Rosenberg Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, USA Exhibition view of Transitions , Rosenberg Gallery, Brown Center, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore, USA, 9 September – 2 October 2011 Transitions , Rosenberg Gallery, Brown Center, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, USA 9 September – 2 October 2011 ‘Transitions’ documents shifting male identity. This was the 9th showing of this touring solo museum exhibition comprising an installation of 5 original drawings, courtesy of the Spier Contemporary Collection and the short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’ (2008). ‘Transitions’ premiered at The Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg South Africa in 2008 and debuted internationally at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA in 2010. Art Source South Africa are managers of Emmanuel's ‘Transitions’ project. Artists statement In late 2004 I was exploring how the military influenced and perpetuated notions of masculinity in South Africa. One morning, while thinking about moments of change, I decided to photograph an actual military recruit head shaving while it was happening – to witness to an unfolding drama. After some research, I discovered that there were only two remaining military bases in South Africa which still perform this obligatory ‘rite of passage’ on their premises, one in Oudtshoorn and the other, Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley. I phoned the Kimberley base, spoke to the Officer-in-Command and arranged a visit to photograph head shavings from the January 2005 intake. I remember feeling apprehensive of what I would find. I did not do military service. I only had references to military experiences told to me by my older brother and friends, who described their head shaving experiences of the apartheid military regime of the 1980s – their stories of feeling dehumanised, lots of shouting, indifference, bigotry and fear. Instead, I found a very different setting ... quiet lawns with well tended flower beds full of roses. Lines of recruits waiting patiently. No shouting. No authoritarianism. No evidence of the violent breaking down of the human spirit. Compared with the horror stories related to South Africa’s past, the equanimity of the scene was arresting. I was spellbound. These liminal moments of transition, when a young man either voluntarily – or is forced to – let go of one identity and take on a new identity as State Property with an assigned Force Number, prompted me to ask many questions: What was I actually witnessing? What is a “Rite of Passage” and how have similar “rituals” helped to form and perpetuate identities and belief systems throughout history? Why was I so powerfully drawn to and transfixed by these dramatic spectacles of subtle change and moments of suspended possibility and impossibility? And so began an intensely reflexive outward and inward journey, in and beyond my studio, which was to last four long years ... Related Content Documentary How the ‘Transitions’ Drawings were Made, 2011, video 2 min 42 sec Artist’s talk Paul Emmanuel Talks to MICA (2011), Falvey Hall, Brown Centre, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, USA, (Video 34 min 43 sec) Radio interview Marc Steiner Chats to Paul Emmanuel, 2011, The Marc Steiner Show, WEAA 88.9 FM, Baltimore, USA, (Podcast 33 mins) Exhibition ‘Transitions Multiples’, Goya Contemporary Gallery, 2011 Film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Apartheid Museum, 2008 Publication ‘Transitions’, Art Source South Africa, 2008
- Transitions (Spier Gallery) | Paul Emmanuel
Paul Emmanuel TRANSITIONS (2009) Spier Gallery, Spier Estate, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa Transitions 3 (detail), 2007 Original drawing hand-incised into exposed, colour photographic paper 48 x 48 cm Spier Collection. Courtesy of Art Source South Africa Transitions , Spier Old Wine Cellar Gallery, Spier Estate, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa 26 November 2009 – 15 February 2010 and 25 February – 31 March 2010 ‘Transitions’ documents shifting male identity. This was the 6th showing of this touring solo museum exhibition comprising an installation of 5 original drawings, courtesy of the Spier Contemporary Collection and the short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’ (2008). ‘Transitions’ premiered at The Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg South Africa in 2008 and debuted internationally at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA in 2010. Art Source South Africa are managers of Emmanuel's ‘Transitions’ project. Artists statement In late 2004 I was exploring how the military influenced and perpetuated notions of masculinity in South Africa. One morning, while thinking about moments of change, I decided to photograph an actual military recruit head shaving while it was happening – to witness to an unfolding drama. After some research, I discovered that there were only two remaining military bases in South Africa which still perform this obligatory ‘rite of passage’ on their premises, one in Oudtshoorn and the other, Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley. I phoned the Kimberley base, spoke to the Officer-in-Command and arranged a visit to photograph head shavings from the January 2005 intake. I remember feeling apprehensive of what I would find. I did not do military service. I only had references to military experiences told to me by my older brother and friends, who described their head shaving experiences of the apartheid military regime of the 1980s – their stories of feeling dehumanised, lots of shouting, indifference, bigotry and fear. Instead, I found a very different setting ... quiet lawns with well tended flower beds full of roses. Lines of recruits waiting patiently. No shouting. No authoritarianism. No evidence of the violent breaking down of the human spirit. Compared with the horror stories related to South Africa’s past, the equanimity of the scene was arresting. I was spellbound. These liminal moments of transition, when a young man either voluntarily – or is forced to – let go of one identity and take on a new identity as State Property with an assigned Force Number, prompted me to ask many questions: What was I actually witnessing? What is a “Rite of Passage” and how have similar “rituals” helped to form and perpetuate identities and belief systems throughout history? Why was I so powerfully drawn to and transfixed by these dramatic spectacles of subtle change and moments of suspended possibility and impossibility? And so began an intensely reflexive outward and inward journey, in and beyond my studio, which was to last four long years ... Related Content Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Apartheid Museum, 2008 Publication ‘Transitions’, Art Source South Africa, 2008 Short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Documentary ‘How the Transitions Drawings Were Made’, 2011
- Transitions (Sylt Foundation) | Paul Emmanuel
Paul Emmanuel: Transitions solo exhibition at the Sylt Foundation, Germany Transitions 1 (detail), 2007. Original drawing, hand-incised into exposed, colour photographic paper, 78 x 305 cm. Spier Collection. Courtesy of Art Source South Africa Transitions , Sylt Foundation, Rantum, Sylt Island, Germany 18 February – 24 April 2011 ‘Transitions’ documents shifting male identity. This was the 8th showing of this touring solo museum exhibition comprising an installation of 5 original drawings, courtesy of the Spier Contemporary Collection and the short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’ (2008). ‘Transitions’ premiered at The Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg South Africa in 2008 and debuted internationally at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA in 2010. Art Source South Africa are managers of Emmanuel's ‘Transitions’ project. Artists statement In late 2004 I was exploring how the military influenced and perpetuated notions of masculinity in South Africa. One morning, while thinking about moments of change, I decided to photograph an actual military recruit head shaving while it was happening – to witness to an unfolding drama. After some research, I discovered that there were only two remaining military bases in South Africa which still perform this obligatory ‘rite of passage’ on their premises, one in Oudtshoorn and the other, Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley. I phoned the Kimberley base, spoke to the Officer-in-Command and arranged a visit to photograph head shavings from the January 2005 intake. I remember feeling apprehensive of what I would find. I did not do military service. I only had references to military experiences told to me by my older brother and friends, who described their head shaving experiences of the apartheid military regime of the 1980s – their stories of feeling dehumanised, lots of shouting, indifference, bigotry and fear. Instead, I found a very different setting ... quiet lawns with well tended flower beds full of roses. Lines of recruits waiting patiently. No shouting. No authoritarianism. No evidence of the violent breaking down of the human spirit. Compared with the horror stories related to South Africa’s past, the equanimity of the scene was arresting. I was spellbound. These liminal moments of transition, when a young man either voluntarily – or is forced to – let go of one identity and take on a new identity as State Property with an assigned Force Number, prompted me to ask many questions: What was I actually witnessing? What is a “Rite of Passage” and how have similar “rituals” helped to form and perpetuate identities and belief systems throughout history? Why was I so powerfully drawn to and transfixed by these dramatic spectacles of subtle change and moments of suspended possibility and impossibility? And so began an intensely reflexive outward and inward journey, in and beyond my studio, which was to last four long years ... Related Content Exhibition ‘Transitions’, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 2010 Film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Publication ‘Transitions’, 2008 Documentary ‘How the Transitions Drawings were Made’ (2011) Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Apartheid Museum, 2008
- Transitions (Smithsonian Institution) | Paul Emmanuel
Paul Emmanuel TRANSITIONS (2010) Skylight Gallery, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA Exhibition view of Transitions , National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 2010 Transitions , National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA 12 May – 22 August 2010 ‘Transitions’ documents shifting male identity. This was the 7th showing of this touring solo museum exhibition comprising an installation of 5 original drawings, courtesy of the Spier Contemporary Collection and the short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’ (2008). ‘Transitions’ premiered at The Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg South Africa in 2008. Art Source South Africa are managers of Emmanuel’s ‘Transitions’ project. Artists statement In late 2004 I was exploring how the military influenced and perpetuated notions of masculinity in South Africa. One morning, while thinking about moments of change, I decided to photograph an actual military recruit head shaving while it was happening – to witness to an unfolding drama. After some research, I discovered that there were only two remaining military bases in South Africa which still perform this obligatory ‘rite of passage’ on their premises, one in Oudtshoorn and the other, Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley. I phoned the Kimberley base, spoke to the Officer-in-Command and arranged a visit to photograph head shavings from the January 2005 intake. I remember feeling apprehensive of what I would find. I did not do military service. I only had references to military experiences told to me by my older brother and friends, who described their head shaving experiences of the apartheid military regime of the 1980s – their stories of feeling dehumanised, lots of shouting, indifference, bigotry and fear. Instead, I found a very different setting ... quiet lawns with well tended flower beds full of roses. Lines of recruits waiting patiently. No shouting. No authoritarianism. No evidence of the violent breaking down of the human spirit. Compared with the horror stories related to South Africa’s past, the equanimity of the scene was arresting. I was spellbound. These liminal moments of transition, when a young man either voluntarily – or is forced to – let go of one identity and take on a new identity as State Property with an assigned Force Number, prompted me to ask many questions: What was I actually witnessing? What is a “Rite of Passage” and how have similar “rituals” helped to form and perpetuate identities and belief systems throughout history? Why was I so powerfully drawn to and transfixed by these dramatic spectacles of subtle change and moments of suspended possibility and impossibility? And so began an intensely reflexive outward and inward journey, in and beyond my studio, which was to last four long years ... Related Content News story Voice of America TV News, 2010 Publication ‘Transitions’, Art Source South Africa, 2008 Publication ‘Paul Emmanuel: Transitions’, Smithsonian National Museum for African Art, 2010 Short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Documentary ‘How the Transitions Drawings Were Made’, 2011 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Apartheid Museum, 2008
- Transitions (Oliewenhuis Art Museum) | Paul Emmanuel
Paul Emmanuel TRANSITIONS (2009) Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa Exhibition view of Transitions , Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa, 2009 Transitions , Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, Free State province, South Africa 5 February – 8 April 2009 ‘Transitions’ documents shifting male identity. This was the 2nd showing of this touring solo museum exhibition comprising an installation of 5 original drawings, courtesy of the Spier Contemporary Collection and the short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’ (2008). ‘Transitions’ premiered at The Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg South Africa in 2008 and debuted internationally at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA in 2010. Art Source South Africa are managers of Emmanuel's ‘Transitions’ project. Artists statement In late 2004 I was exploring how the military influenced and perpetuated notions of masculinity in South Africa. One morning, while thinking about moments of change, I decided to photograph an actual military recruit head shaving while it was happening – to witness to an unfolding drama. After some research, I discovered that there were only two remaining military bases in South Africa which still perform this obligatory ‘rite of passage’ on their premises, one in Oudtshoorn and the other, Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley. I phoned the Kimberley base, spoke to the Officer-in-Command and arranged a visit to photograph head shavings from the January 2005 intake. I remember feeling apprehensive of what I would find. I did not do military service. I only had references to military experiences told to me by my older brother and friends, who described their head shaving experiences of the apartheid military regime of the 1980s – their stories of feeling dehumanised, lots of shouting, indifference, bigotry and fear. Instead, I found a very different setting ... quiet lawns with well tended flower beds full of roses. Lines of recruits waiting patiently. No shouting. No authoritarianism. No evidence of the violent breaking down of the human spirit. Compared with the horror stories related to South Africa’s past, the equanimity of the scene was arresting. I was spellbound. These liminal moments of transition, when a young man either voluntarily – or is forced to – let go of one identity and take on a new identity as State Property with an assigned Force Number, prompted me to ask many questions: What was I actually witnessing? What is a “Rite of Passage” and how have similar “rituals” helped to form and perpetuate identities and belief systems throughout history? Why was I so powerfully drawn to and transfixed by these dramatic spectacles of subtle change and moments of suspended possibility and impossibility? And so began an intensely reflexive outward and inward journey, in and beyond my studio, which was to last four long years ... Related Content Publication ‘Transitions’, Art Source South Africa, 2008 Short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Documentary ‘How the Transitions Drawings Were Made’, 2011 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Apartheid Museum, 2008 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, 2010
- The Lost Men | Paul Emmanuel
Paul Emmanuel THE LOST MEN (2009) Sylt Foundation, Rantum, Sylt Island, Germany A South African on Sylt, 2009, Deutsche Welle TV, Berlin, Germany, 6 min 28 sec The Lost Men , Sylt Foundation, Rantum, Sylt Island, Germany July – September 2009 Emmanuel was invited to the Sylt Foundation as an artist-in-residence from 26 May to 26 June 2009. The Sylt Foundation is located on the island of Sylt in the North Sea, off the coast of Germany. During this residency, the existing memorial installations of ‘The Lost Men Grahamstown’ (2004) and ‘The Lost Men Mozambique’ (2007) were installed on the island, to be seen by visitors to the Meerkabarett Cultural Festival, which takes place annually from 6 July to 23 August 2009. Related Content Counter-memorial ‘The Lost Men Grahamstown’, 2004 Counter-memorial ‘The Lost Men Mozambique’ 2007 Counter-memorial ‘The Lost Men France’, 2014
- Transitions (Apartheid Museum) | Paul Emmanuel
Paul Emmanuel TRANSITIONS (2008) Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Transitions 2 (detail), 2006. Original drawing hand-incised into exposed, colour photographic paper, 48 x 48 cm. Spier Collection. Courtesy of Art Source South Africa Transitions , Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg, Gauteng province, South Africa 27 September – 31 December 2008 ‘Transitions’ documents shifting male identity. This was the 1st showing of this touring solo museum exhibition comprising an installation of 5 original drawings, courtesy of the Spier Contemporary Collection and the short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’ (2008). ‘Transitions’ toured to 6 museum venues in South Africa and debuted internationally at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA. A full-colour publication with writings by André Croucamp and Robyn Sassen was published by Art Source South Africa. Artists statement In late 2004 I was exploring how the military influenced and perpetuated notions of masculinity in South Africa. One morning, while thinking about moments of change, I decided to photograph an actual military recruit head shaving while it was happening – to witness to an unfolding drama. After some research, I discovered that there were only two remaining military bases in South Africa which still perform this obligatory ‘rite of passage’ on their premises, one in Oudtshoorn and the other, Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley. I phoned the Kimberley base, spoke to the Officer-in-Command and arranged a visit to photograph head shavings from the January 2005 intake. I remember feeling apprehensive of what I would find. I did not do military service. I only had references to military experiences told to me by my older brother and friends, who described their head shaving experiences of the apartheid military regime of the 1980s – their stories of feeling dehumanised, lots of shouting, indifference, bigotry and fear. Instead, I found a very different setting ... quiet lawns with well tended flower beds full of roses. Lines of recruits waiting patiently. No shouting. No authoritarianism. No evidence of the violent breaking down of the human spirit. Compared with the horror stories related to South Africa’s past, the equanimity of the scene was arresting. I was spellbound. These liminal moments of transition, when a young man either voluntarily – or is forced to – let go of one identity and take on a new identity as State Property with an assigned Force Number, prompted me to ask many questions: What was I actually witnessing? What is a “Rite of Passage” and how have similar “rituals” helped to form and perpetuate identities and belief systems throughout history? Why was I so powerfully drawn to and transfixed by these dramatic spectacles of subtle change and moments of suspended possibility and impossibility? And so began an intensely reflexive outward and inward journey, in and beyond my studio, which was to last four long years ... Related Content Publication ‘Transitions’, Art Source South Africa, 2008 Short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Documentary ‘How the Transitions Drawings Were Made’, 2011 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, 2010
- Transitions (KZNSA Gallery) | Paul Emmanuel
Paul Emmanuel TRANSITIONS (2009) KZNSA Gallery, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Transitions 5 (detail), 2008. Original drawing hand-incised into exposed, colour photographic paper, 78 x 305 cm. Spier Collection. Courtesy of Art Source South Africa Transitions , KwaZulu-Natal Society of Arts (KZNSA Gallery), Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa 2 – 21 June 2009 ‘Transitions’ documents shifting male identity. This was the 4th showing of this touring solo museum exhibition comprising an installation of 5 original drawings, courtesy of the Spier Contemporary Collection and the short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’ (2008). ‘Transitions’ premiered at The Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg South Africa in 2008 and debuted internationally at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA in 2010. Art Source South Africa are managers of Emmanuel's ‘Transitions’ project. Artists statement In late 2004 I was exploring how the military influenced and perpetuated notions of masculinity in South Africa. One morning, while thinking about moments of change, I decided to photograph an actual military recruit head shaving while it was happening – to witness to an unfolding drama. After some research, I discovered that there were only two remaining military bases in South Africa which still perform this obligatory ‘rite of passage’ on their premises, one in Oudtshoorn and the other, Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley. I phoned the Kimberley base, spoke to the Officer-in-Command and arranged a visit to photograph head shavings from the January 2005 intake. I remember feeling apprehensive of what I would find. I did not do military service. I only had references to military experiences told to me by my older brother and friends, who described their head shaving experiences of the apartheid military regime of the 1980s – their stories of feeling dehumanised, lots of shouting, indifference, bigotry and fear. Instead, I found a very different setting ... quiet lawns with well tended flower beds full of roses. Lines of recruits waiting patiently. No shouting. No authoritarianism. No evidence of the violent breaking down of the human spirit. Compared with the horror stories related to South Africa’s past, the equanimity of the scene was arresting. I was spellbound. These liminal moments of transition, when a young man either voluntarily – or is forced to – let go of one identity and take on a new identity as State Property with an assigned Force Number, prompted me to ask many questions: What was I actually witnessing? What is a “Rite of Passage” and how have similar “rituals” helped to form and perpetuate identities and belief systems throughout history? Why was I so powerfully drawn to and transfixed by these dramatic spectacles of subtle change and moments of suspended possibility and impossibility? And so began an intensely reflexive outward and inward journey, in and beyond my studio, which was to last four long years ... Related Content Publication ‘Transitions’, Art Source South Africa, 2008 Short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Documentary ‘How the Transitions Drawings Were Made’, 2011 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Apartheid Museum, 2008 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, 2010
- Transitions (William Humphreys Museum) | Paul Emmanuel
Paul Emmanuel TRANSITIONS (2009) William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa Transitions 4 (detail), 2007. Original drawing hand-incised into exposed, colour photographic paper, 78 x 305 cm. Spier Collection. Courtesy of Art Source South Africa Transitions , William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley, Northern Cape province, South Africa 15 April – 15 May 2009 ‘Transitions’ documents shifting male identity. This was the 3rd showing of this touring solo museum exhibition comprising an installation of 5 original drawings, courtesy of the Spier Contemporary Collection and the short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’ (2008). ‘Transitions’ premiered at The Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg South Africa in 2008 and debuted internationally at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA in 2010. Art Source South Africa are managers of Emmanuel's ‘Transitions’ project. Artists statement In late 2004 I was exploring how the military influenced and perpetuated notions of masculinity in South Africa. One morning, while thinking about moments of change, I decided to photograph an actual military recruit head shaving while it was happening – to witness to an unfolding drama. After some research, I discovered that there were only two remaining military bases in South Africa which still perform this obligatory ‘rite of passage’ on their premises, one in Oudtshoorn and the other, Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley. I phoned the Kimberley base, spoke to the Officer-in-Command and arranged a visit to photograph head shavings from the January 2005 intake. I remember feeling apprehensive of what I would find. I did not do military service. I only had references to military experiences told to me by my older brother and friends, who described their head shaving experiences of the apartheid military regime of the 1980s – their stories of feeling dehumanised, lots of shouting, indifference, bigotry and fear. Instead, I found a very different setting ... quiet lawns with well tended flower beds full of roses. Lines of recruits waiting patiently. No shouting. No authoritarianism. No evidence of the violent breaking down of the human spirit. Compared with the horror stories related to South Africa’s past, the equanimity of the scene was arresting. I was spellbound. These liminal moments of transition, when a young man either voluntarily – or is forced to – let go of one identity and take on a new identity as State Property with an assigned Force Number, prompted me to ask many questions: What was I actually witnessing? What is a “Rite of Passage” and how have similar “rituals” helped to form and perpetuate identities and belief systems throughout history? Why was I so powerfully drawn to and transfixed by these dramatic spectacles of subtle change and moments of suspended possibility and impossibility? And so began an intensely reflexive outward and inward journey, in and beyond my studio, which was to last four long years ... Related Content Publication ‘Transitions’, Art Source South Africa, 2008 Short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Documentary ‘How the Transitions Drawings Were Made’, 2011 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Apartheid Museum, 2008 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, 2010
- Transitions (Albany Museum) | Paul Emmanuel
Paul Emmanuel TRANSITIONS (2009) Albany Museum, National Arts Festival, Makhanda, Eastern Cape, South Africa Transitions 4, (detail), 2008. Original drawing hand-incised into exposed, colour photographic paper, 48 x 48 cm. Spier Collection. Courtesy of Art Source South Africa Transitions , Rhodes University Alumni Gallery, Albany History Museum, National Arts Festival, Makhanda (formerly known as Grahamstown), Eastern Cape, South Africa 2 – 11 June 2009 ‘Transitions’ documents shifting male identity. This was the 5th showing of this touring solo museum exhibition comprising an installation of 5 original drawings, courtesy of the Spier Contemporary Collection and the short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’ (2008). ‘Transitions’ premiered at The Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg South Africa in 2008 and debuted internationally at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA in 2010. Art Source South Africa are managers of Emmanuel's ‘Transitions’ project. Artists statement In late 2004 I was exploring how the military influenced and perpetuated notions of masculinity in South Africa. One morning, while thinking about moments of change, I decided to photograph an actual military recruit head shaving while it was happening – to witness to an unfolding drama. After some research, I discovered that there were only two remaining military bases in South Africa which still perform this obligatory ‘rite of passage’ on their premises, one in Oudtshoorn and the other, Third South African Infantry Battalion (3SAI) in Kimberley. I phoned the Kimberley base, spoke to the Officer-in-Command and arranged a visit to photograph head shavings from the January 2005 intake. I remember feeling apprehensive of what I would find. I did not do military service. I only had references to military experiences told to me by my older brother and friends, who described their head shaving experiences of the apartheid military regime of the 1980s – their stories of feeling dehumanised, lots of shouting, indifference, bigotry and fear. Instead, I found a very different setting ... quiet lawns with well tended flower beds full of roses. Lines of recruits waiting patiently. No shouting. No authoritarianism. No evidence of the violent breaking down of the human spirit. Compared with the horror stories related to South Africa’s past, the equanimity of the scene was arresting. I was spellbound. These liminal moments of transition, when a young man either voluntarily – or is forced to – let go of one identity and take on a new identity as State Property with an assigned Force Number, prompted me to ask many questions: What was I actually witnessing? What is a “Rite of Passage” and how have similar “rituals” helped to form and perpetuate identities and belief systems throughout history? Why was I so powerfully drawn to and transfixed by these dramatic spectacles of subtle change and moments of suspended possibility and impossibility? And so began an intensely reflexive outward and inward journey, in and beyond my studio, which was to last four long years ... Related Content Publication ‘Transitions’, Art Source South Africa, 2008 Short film ‘3SAI: A Rite of Passage’, 2008 Documentary ‘How the Transitions Drawings Were Made’, 2011 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Apartheid Museum, 2008 Exhibition ‘Transitions’, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, 2010
- Substance of Shadows | Paul Emmanuel
Paul Emmanuel SUBSTANCE OF SHADOWS (2021) University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, Gauteng, South Africa Carbon Dad 2017 , 2020, hand incised, perforated carbon paper, carbon residue, perspex rail, 110 x 440 cm Substance of Shadows , University of Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa 11 September – 2 October 2021 Inspired by the Human Shadow Etched in Stone at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima, Japan, this solo exhibition tracks Emmanuel's continued personal fascination with the tenuous nature of memory. The only certainty is change. We try to hold onto memories in the hope of maintaining some coherence and continuity, but our memories are largely inventions and they too change over time. We commemorate our invented pasts in an attempt to fix them in the present. This exhibition is a collection of works scratched by hand into delicate carbon 'paper' or film. These carbon 'shadows' are all metaphors for carbon copies and products of one of life's greatest narratives – the carbon cycle. Carbon is an element in nature. Related Content Intervention ‘Rising-falling’, General Louis Botha monument, Pretoria, South Africa, 15 June 2021 Publication ‘Substance of Shadows’, texts by Mark Auslander, Ellen Schattschneider and Paul Emmanuel, PDF Exhibition ‘Transitions’, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA, 2010
- The Lost Men France | Paul Emmanuel
Paul Emmanuel THE LOST MEN FRANCE (2014) First World War Centenary, Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, Picardy, France Installation views of The Lost Men France , WWI Centenary, Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, Picardy, northern France, 1 July – 1 October 2014 The Lost Men France , World War One Centenary, Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, Picardy, Northern France 1 July – 1 October 2014 ‘The Lost Men France’ was a once-only counter-memorial and an official feature of the 2014 – 2018 First World War Centenary. It was temporarily installed adjacent to the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, Picardy, Northern France as an intervention in the Somme Circuit of Remembrance. In the battles that were fought on the Western Front between 1914 and 1918, thousands of South African servicemen took part and died alongside the Allies but white and black South African men were valourised differently. ‘The Lost Men France’ depicted these names alongside those of the Allies and Germans. Supported by La Mission du Centenaire de la Première Guerre Mondiale, Paris, Institut Français Paris / Johannesburg and The National Arts Council of South Africa. Related Content Artist talk Institut Français and Tshwane University of Technology, 2012 Documentary ‘Remembering a Counter-Memorial: Making The Lost Men France’, 2014 Interview SABC TV Morning Live, Johannesburg, 2014 Counter-memorial ‘The Lost Men Mozambique’ 2007 Counter-memorial ‘The Lost Men Grahamstown’, 2004











