Azania in Venice

My research examines the relationship between visual art and transitional justice – how this relationship contributes to, and affects, ideas of justice. Specifically, I seek to understand the nature, extent and significance of this relationship in the context of ‘post-apartheid’ South Africa. The research takes the form of an in-depth case study of contemporary South African visual art across international, national and local levels. This photograph shows Athi-Patra Ruga’s performance of The Future White Women of Azania which was part of the South African Pavilion at the 55th International Art Biennale in Venice, Italy. The performance marked both an aesthetic and political intervention in the Venetian landscape. Dressed in balloons, the artist sailed the future white women of Azania down the Grand Canal. Their unexpected presence and journey raised questions about race, nationality, and ultimately what it means to belong to an imagined utopian identity.