Clothing and identity. (recent exhibitions).

CLOTHING AND IDENTITY

Gertrude Posel Gallery University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, South Africa February 28, 1998-December 15, 2001

University galleries are sites of instruction where curators can push the conventional boundaries of exhibition politics by exploring innovative display practices. Curators at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), have embraced their situational possibilities, and its attendant responsibilities, by creating a semi-permanent exhibition, "Clothing and Identity." This review considers its usefulness as part of interactive teaching by the Department of Art History at Wits.

"Clothing and Identity" has seven curators: Rayda Becker, Julia Charlton, and Fiona Rankin-Smith, from the Gertrude Posel Art Gallery; Anitra Nettleton of the Department of Art History at Wits; Veliswa Gwintsa, Nessa Leibhammer, and Debbie Lutrin, previous M.A. candidates in art history at Wits. Jan Hughes and Sipho Ndabambi provided assistance. The exhibition examines the ways in which people clothe themselves and the effects of dress as self-representation or as group identity. The subject is readily comprehended by viewers; thus, personal relevance is assured. Challenging questions, however, arise from the materials in several cases, which are of a known type but unfamiliar either in context or presentation. The curators designed eight installations, each different in material and approach. Displayed in wall cabinets that surround the gallery's lower floor, the installations serve two key learning functions: the range of contexts and materials suggests that clothing expresses or conceals identity in myriad ways; the varied presentations provoke discussion of exhibition methodologies.

The exhibition's many lines of inquiry have been explored, among others, by first- and second-year students of art history as an integral component of their courses. In South Africa's still unequal educational system, many students new to Wits have never visited a gallery. "Clothing and Identity" thus offers a new experience for them. In that it honors differences, deconstructs presentations, and readily links to personal experiences, it is an excellent tutorial vehicle for those making the transition to university life. Second-year students, more engaged with the politics of display, write essays that set two or more cases in dialogue. The most promising writers are encouraged to propose a new case for the exhibition.

Three cases have elicited the most student enthusiasm. Rayda Becker's "One + One = Many" explores how a person's dress communicates different identities within different contexts (Fig. 2). A pair of bright-green worker's overalls emblazoned with the Wits logo is pinned flat against a neutral-colored wall with the costume of a Tsonga nanga (healer)--xihuba (wig), timpandu (beaded cross-chest band), and a siyanda (beaded wraparound skirt)--suspended in front of it, approximating human form. Objects surround the two uniforms: a mop for the cleaner; a fly whisk, medicine containers, and a drum for the nanga. Since the attire worn by cleaners at Wits is familiar to students, it acts as an easy access point for discussion. (1) Some have not, however, given thought to these workers' identities outside of their job on campus. Few students know the meanings associated with a nanga's dress, but those who are culturally familiar with the healer's practice share insights and information about the significance of the rituals and costume. The compelling juxtaposition of the two garments prompts discussion of boundaries encoded by differences in society, culture, and ideology. The uniforms' different functions are explored. One meets secular demands; the other, ritual and spiritual needs. The display is important for the way it encourages students to see manual laborers as people with complex identities beyond that marked by their work attire.

[FIGURE 2 OMMITED]

Anitra Nettleton's "Inside and Out: African Masks" is also a popular installation (Fig. 1). It complicates identity communicated via objects of a type--masks--by staging the multiple boundaries attendant upon them. The case is divided in half. The left side, enclosed in grass mats, suggests the private, secretive sphere of lodgings known only to male initiates who wear masks like those inside from west and central Africa. To see into the enclosure, viewers look through a "tourist" mask suspended outside the glass. A mirror affixed to the back wall reflects one's masked face, suggesting the limited knowledge voyeuristic viewing allows. The right side of the case is not enclosed, offering accessible views of the west African masks displayed, which are either static or in motion on a turntable. Western interest in purely aesthetic objects is pitted against African performance of masks in motion. The divided case illustrates how masks are seen differently in private and public spheres and reminds viewers that power and knowledge are culturally defined. Students favor this case in their essays; they are challenged by the ideas of altering their own identity through viewership and by the implications of distanced observation on the study of objects.

[FIGURE 1 OMMITED]

A third favorite is Fiona Rankin-Smith's "Soccer Is Power! Popular Culture in South Africa" (Fig. 3). Objects displayed range from original art to a fascinating and eclectic array of mass-produced items, all associated with the nation's best-known soccer teams. The case, like others in the exhibition, challenges the divide between high art and mass-produced product, engaging viewers in the art/artifact debate and, at the same time the politics of production and display. For example, one juxtaposition in this dense and exciting installation offsets a beautifully carved Mende mask with a South African laborer's hard hat that was refashioned by a fan of the Orlando Pirates team to include their colors and emblem. Their pairing sparks discussion of shared aesthetics and, in the latter case, the recycling and appropriation of an object by the artist. In another instance, an enlarged African Arts cover showing a Ivoirian with painted face hangs near an enlarged photograph of two fans of the national team, Bafana Bafana (The Boys The Boys), one of whom has painted his entire face in the form of the South African flag. One sees how artistic expression permeates popular culture and allows for the exploration of a range of associations, heightening awareness of the qualities and characteristics automatically assigned wearers of particular costumes.

[FIGURE 3 OMMITED]

A useful dialogue on the politics of display exists between Becker's "The Art of Clothing," which emphasizes aesthetics and art museum practice in showcasing elaborate costumes from many African cultures, and Julia Charlton's "Identity: Sameness and Difference," which presents stunning Ndebele iziphephetu (stiff beaded skirts) with an anthropological bent. Costumes in Becker's case are identified only by objective information; those in Charlton's case are richly described as objects that mark stages of both collective female identity and individuality. "Women's Bodies/Culture's Costume: Identity, Fertility and the Child Figure," curated by Nessa Leibhammer and Debbie Lutrin, explores perceptions of female beauty and fertility by examining metaphorical readings of material fashioned into dolls in six southern African cultures. Though the curatorial aim is very interesting and well presented as an exhibition, (2) it is overwhelming when reduced here to a single cabinet. Veliswa Gwintsa's "Costume and Multivalency" challenges notions of tradition by situating clothing from the Eastern Cape within the changing economies of fashion. Students principally respond to the possibly problematic use of a mannequin in this case, whose clothing illustrates the dynamics of identity communicated through dress in merging economies. Another of Becker's installations, "Case Study: Worker as Subject," offers opportunities for frank discussion around sensitive issues concerning domestic workers. Almost every student has had personal experience with the subject; either their parents employ domestic workers, or family members earn their living this way. They recognize these uniforms as indicators of class, denying workers the freedom to display their own identity.

"Clothing and Identity" serves students well. It offers a forum for the exchange of ideas and personal insights, knowledge and understanding about aspects of African art and the manner of its display. Six of the cases focus on complexities of dress and identity in southern Africa, a region in which the understanding of differences in cultural preference and practice is emerging.

Each case challenges notions of fixed meaning and fosters, to varying degrees, discussion of theoretical issues relevant to museum display, adornment, identity, and agency. Most important, these discussions can positively affect one's reading of another's identity as it is communicated through dress.

(1.) At the time of writing, "One + One = Many" has taken on another meaning. Due to a current restructuring program at Wits, the internally managed cleaning service has been discontinued, their services outsourced. As South African unemployment is high, this created a very difficult labor issue that required careful management. After June 2000, people in uniforms such as that displayed were no longer seen on campus, thus adding a new dimension to the display.

(2.) The case samples materials and research for another exhibition and book: Evocations of the Child: Fertility Figures of the Southern African Region, edited by E. Dell (Johannesburg: Human & Rousseau, 1998).

BARBARA BUNTMAN lectures and is a senior tutor in the School of Art, Department of Art History, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

SHANNEN HILL is an instructor in art from Africa and its Atlantic diaspora in the School of Art and Art History, University of Denver.