Photography and the Archive in South Africa

This Colloquy aims to create an archive of the recent residency of South African photographer, Sabelo Mlangeni, at Stanford University, provoking discussion around the intersection between the academy and artistic practice, as well as providing a long-term record of Stanford’s engagement with an important artist. In doing so, we provide an important intervention towards better understanding the public role of the University, and, in particular, its role as a patron of and interlocutor with the arts, especially work produced by Black artists from the African continent.

Our Colloquy focuses on Imvuselelo: The Revival, an exhibition of work by Mlangeni shown at the Cantor Arts Center (September 27, 2023 - January 21, 2024). As part of Imvuselelo, Mlangeni turned his lens towards his own South African Zionist church community (a church distinct from Jewish nationalism) in his rural hometown Driefontein, revealing core realities of post-apartheid life for Black communities across South Africa. The work also pays homage to the church’s American roots—currently withering as the number of American Zionist practitioners declines—fulfilling Mlangeni’s desire to “bring these hymns of revival to America” and laying bare the relationship between his religious practice and decolonial thought. 

This Colloquy, which includes materials from Mlangeni’s show at the Cantor and the recordings of classes and public talks and lectures, is designed to be an introduction to Mlangeni’s body of work and to highlight the accompanying themes he vividly depicts in his photographs: gender, sexuality, religion, and race through the lens of a post-apartheid South Africa. This archive is also intended to be a long-term record of the residency and exhibition, contributing to the         emerging field of “exhibition history,” and offering evidence of Stanford’s collaboration with Mlangeni for future generations of historians, artists, and the general public.

Finally, the Colloquy invites visitors to reflect upon the academy’s own relationship with Black communities, both near and far. The relationship between academia and art is one historically marred by a culture of elitism and racism; infused with complex questions about what is considered art and deemed worthy of display. But our Colloquy also speaks to the productive potential of artist-academia collaborations, revealing the benefit of on-campus residencies to artists’ careers, to academic practice, and to campus student life. As you examine this archive of an artistic residency on a university campus, consider the complexity of the relationship between academia and art, especially art made by Black, brown, queer, and gender-marginalized individuals.