|
Thandile Zwelibanzi’s Still Existence is a series that looks at the presence of informal traders on the streets of Johannesburg, in particular around one of the biggest taxi rank-cum-markets in the country. Zwelibanzi’s series begins with those trading at night, a significantly unsafe and quite isolated time for business on the streets of Johannesburg. Many of these traders have migrated from various parts of the continent and other parts of South Africa to the big city, Johannesburg, to make a living out of selling fruit, vegetables, sweets, or cigarettes. Zwelibanzi captures the individuals that stand on street corners for hours at a time and documents their makeshift stalls and easily transportable goods. Although they are present day after day for up to fifteen hours at a time, they leave little behind once packed up; and are prepared to disappear easily should the police arrive and begin one of their regular raids on ‘illegal’ traders. |
|
“These traders’ presence on the streets of Johannesburg is a definite claim of belonging, of ownership of space, however temporal and legally blurred.”
Courtesy of the artist.
Still Existence
Stacey Vorster, Thandile Zwelibanzi
Thandile Zwelibanzi’s Still Existence is a series that looks at the presence of informal traders on the streets of Johannesburg, in particular around one of the biggest taxi rank-cum-markets in the country. Zwelibanzi’s series begins with those trading at night, a significantly unsafe and quite isolated time for business on the streets of Johannesburg. Many of these traders have migrated from various parts of the continent and other parts of South Africa to the big city, Johannesburg, to make a living out of selling fruit, vegetables, sweets, or cigarettes. Zwelibanzi captures the individuals that stand on street corners for hours at a time and documents their makeshift stalls and easily transportable goods. Although they are present day after day for up to fifteen hours at a time, they leave little behind once packed up; and are prepared to disappear easily should the police arrive and begin one of their regular raids on ‘illegal’ traders.
These traders’ presence on the streets of Johannesburg is a definite claim of belonging, of ownership of space, however temporal and legally blurred. Their presence and the community they develop with other traders, local taxi officials, and the customers who buy from them regularly, create a specific network that spreads throughout the continent through trade lines and remittance flows. On a continent in which two thirds of its rural population will have moved to the cities and half of its overall population will be living in these same cities by 2030, the rate of urbanization threatens economic, environmental, health and social sustainability. Zwelibanzi’s exhibition explores the ways in which individuals play their part in this mass migration, and how they maintain their social relationships, engage their historical ties, and renegotiate their spatial belonging.
Thandile Zwelibanzi was born in Willovale, Eastern Cape in 1987. He grew up and went to school in Kagiso in Gauteng, where he still lives. Zwelibanzi completed a Foundation Course in photography at the Market Photo Workshop in 2008 and an Intermediate Course in 2009. He has also been working as a course assistant at Market Photo Workshop since 2008.
Artist’s Statement
“I like to photograph mostly people, for now, I’m not so sure why. Maybe it’s because they are my source of happiness, sadness and of inspiration. My aim is to create “real” images, I’m not crazy about the genres of photography but I like my photographs to give a feeling of looking at a version of the world that we don’t usually see, but know.”
*** This article was published by NY Arts Magazine, 2011. NY Arts Magazine is published by Abraham Lubelski. Sponsored by Broadway Gallery, NYC and World Art Media.
