Thinking Circulations in Southern Africa and Beyond through Artistic Practice

This article examines historical and contemporary circulations across southern Africa and beyond from the perspective of artistic practice. The case studies are drawn from the established practices of four artists: South Africans Simon Gush and Jo Ractliffe, Mozambique-born South African and Portuguese Ângela Ferreira, and Angolan Kiluanji Kia Henda. Involving transdisciplinary research, collaboration and travelling across borders, the examined works address the manifold circulations that have shaped the region. These circulations regard the histories of Portuguese colonialism, anti-colonial struggle, independence, Cold War, civil war and post-war globalisation in Mozambique and Angola; as well as Dutch and British colonialism in South Africa, apartheid South Africa’s opposition to Namibian, Angolan and Mozambican liberation movements, anti-apartheid solidarities across borders, and post-apartheid South Africa’s regional relations. Through the media of photography, text, installation and video, the works also address more personal and familial experiences of displacement, often caused by war, and include oral histories and memories. The article argues for the relevance of artistic practice for scholarly and public debates on the region, from a transdisciplinary perspective that puts contemporary art in dialogue with history and the social sciences.