Casey Kaplan
WHEN THE DUST SETTLES A CONFLICT OF IDENTITIES REMAINS
Masterclass by Igshaan Adams, Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year, is rooted in his historical identity as a queer, coloured Muslim in Cape Town
by Nabeel Allie
23 January 2019
“When Dust Settles” is a sculptural and art-piece installed masterclass by Igshaan Adams, Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year 2018. The Bonteheuwel-born artist has also worked in myriad of other art forms, most recently performance art — rooted in his historical identity as a coloured Muslim in Cape Town — as well as a handful of portraits that form part of the “When Dust Settles” exhibition. Throughout a walkabout in early December, Adams repeatedly spoke about the conflict of identities and it’s evident across all the works that were on show — garden-fencing covered in cotton threads, vinyl hanging from the wall, the two-version portrait of himself, a mirror from prison in the sanctimonious space and more.
The conflicts and contradictions are rooted in him as a queer person of colour in Cape Town as well as his personal history, he says. His is not altogether dissimilar from many other personal histories in the Cape Flats, a place where heterogeneity, among other things, thrives.
“My mother’s parents come from Namaqualand and they were Christian and she converted to Islam when she was a teenager and married my father soon afterwards. My parents weren’t responsible, they were quite immature. When I was about five years old they got a house in Lavender Hill. It’s the worst part of Cape Town I would say, or one of the worst places.
“My grandparents decided to keep us in Bonteheuwel so I was five when my grandparents took over the responsibility of raising me. My grandmother is a religious Christian but still allowed Islam and had a deep appreciation for it. She undertook the task of teaching us and giving us an Islamic education,” Adams reminisced. The exhibition title, “When Dust Settles,” signifies the conflicts coming to rest after their battle.
Adams co-ordinates the space first — itself wide enough to walk about uninterrupted. Unwanted vinyl flooring pulled from homes across the Cape Flats is purposefully scattered across the floor, their patchy holes covered over by a fix of foreign faux-tile, as well as against the walls. The clean wooden floors and white walls of the entrance hall seem distant in a space that would feel distinctly like home to some. The vinyl hanging from the walls, not entirely plastered down and some of it akin to curtains, is co- ordinated by colour and tone.
The soft blue, green and grey that colour the first few metres beyond the entrance make it cool and calming, while a cosy brown typifies the centre walls. The walls closest to the far end are a rich red. “Every time the material changes. We use hot glue guns to put the vinyl down. Here it’s all the warm tones, in the front it’s quite cool. There are lots of greys and there’s progression as you move through the space. Also the effort of the people to patch up the holes in the vinyl, that’s beautiful and something that I quite enjoyed,” Adams said.
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