Published 29 April 2024 in News
Natasha Norman Kala Pani - the crossing
99 LOOP Gallery
99 Loop Street, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
02 May 2024, 17:00 – 25 May 2024, 14:00 (SAST)
"Titled Kala Pani – the crossing the show is an imagined landscape of the passage between two identities. The title takes its name from the Hindu taboo of ‘crossing black waters’ that threatened the loss of caste and religion as a result of oceanic migration. It is easy to view this historical taboo as simply superstitious from our moment in history, but its warning is true in many ways that have become the cornerstone of vibrant, inventive creole culture.
The works in this exhibition are indistinct moments of loss and beauty in the letting go of cultural restraints. Fear, joy, heartache and wonder are also here in this moment of passage (often the courageous first step into an imagined future).
My interest in cultural restraints has been long standing but became particularly clear after the birth of my son. Born of a Catholic, English peerage and a Hindu Tamil, Indentured heritage, my child is a striking example of the creole. Many of the titles in the exhibition are inspired by lines from Mauritian poet Torabully’s poetry and tales by Rudyard Kipling whose annual visits to Cape Town are remembered in the preservation of Kipling House in Woolsack drive.
Regardless of class, caste, history or religion this exhibition is a landscape of passage. A star haul from the ocean of change that we are all going through. Here, in this imagined space outside the clockworks of time, is the sea."
For more information about the exhibition please navigate to the 99 LOOP Gallery website here