Abstract

This article engages with the haunting experiences associated with the Ntaba kaNdoda monument, not as a re-enactment to recreate past events, but as an exercise in critical visual arts intervention. It further unpacks notions of memory and performative memorialisation in the former Ciskei. Ntaba kaNdoda is associated with Dr Lennox L. W. Sebe, former president of the Ciskei, who remains a figure in post-apartheid South Africa. This article is also a response to this majestic monument—its visual representation and its materiality—which enabled a particular performativity throughout my work. As part of my practice I recite performative memories at an abandoned monument, retracing and recalling overlaid memories through commemorative re-enactment. Mechtild Widrich's conception of performative monuments, Lucy Lippard's sense of place, and Pierre Nora's lieux de mémoire and milieux de mémoire inform the theoretical rationale of this article, expanding my research interest in the Ntaba kaNdoda memorial. I urge for a visual art practice that looks at the past to make sense of the present. I emphasise the importance of understanding how one encounters a commemorative marker such as the Ntaba kaNdoda monument when considering future memorials, especially when we engage with post-colonial commemorative markers, places, and photographic material.

摘要

本文探讨与 Ntaba kaNdoda 纪念碑相关的令人难以忘怀的经历，而不是作为重现过去事件的重演，而是作为批判性视觉艺术干预的练习。它进一步解开了前 Ciskei 中记忆和表演性纪念的概念。Ntaba kaNdoda 与 Ciskei 前总统 Lennox LW Sebe 博士有关，他在种族隔离后的南非仍然是一个人物。这篇文章也是对这座雄伟的纪念碑的回应——它的视觉表现和它的物质性——这使得我在整个作品中都具有一种特殊的表演性。作为我实践的一部分，我在一座废弃的纪念碑上背诵表演性记忆，通过纪念重演来追溯和回忆重叠的记忆。Mechtild Widrich 的表演纪念碑概念，Lucy Lippard 的地方感，lieux de mémoire和milieux de mémoire为本文的理论基础提供了信息，扩大了我对 Ntaba kaNdoda 纪念馆的研究兴趣。我敦促进行视觉艺术实践，回顾过去以理解现在。在考虑未来的纪念碑时，我强调了解人们如何遇到诸如 Ntaba kaNdoda 纪念碑这样的纪念标记的重要性，特别是当我们接触后殖民纪念标记、地点和摄影材料时。