Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, has acquired Gxara (2020) by Tamar Mason.
Gxara looks to the neglected rural areas of South Africa that have been such a part of Mason's life and work, places with rich historical and cultural significance but where basic government services are failing or were completely lacking in the first place. This work refers to the Gxara River on the Eastern Cape. Tamar wanted to explore the permanent record that societies leave on the land, in contrast to the transience of human lives on the planet.
The work is specifically concerned with the story of Nongqawuse, a young woman who had a revelation at the Gxara River in the mid-19th century that led to a mass cattle killing. Her radical, apocalyptic vision predicted that all Europeans would be driven back into the sea if the Xhosa people killed all their cattle and stopped cultivation. This led to an estimated 350,000 cattle being killed and a famine that caused the deaths of roughly 70,000 people. This type of millenarian action is often a feature of societies that have been profoundly disrupted by colonialism and the stress it enacts on the environment. Tamar is particularly interested in the effect that young women's voices can have on the course of history, particularly given the ongoing patriarchal structure of our society and as relates to the present climate crisis.
