BLAXIS: In / Out of Site & Space - A De/aesthetic Paradise Fallen   

Mpumelelo MCATA

Mpumelelo is one of South Africa’s leading artists & cultural activists, with two Berlinale world premiered films & the internationally acclaimed award winning post rock band BLK JKS amongst other tricks under his hat.

In conversation with Raimi Gbadamosi, Zara Julius & Raél Jero Salley

About:

Blaxis is bringing/ coming/ being together. 

BLAXIS is born of conversations, experiments, and speculations on the edges. On the edges of what? Well, on the edges of music, art, academia, film, poetry, and imagination.This coming together is initiated by Zen Marie, in dialogue with Mpumelelo Mcata, Tumi Mogorosi, and others. (For this iteration of BLAXIS, others include Raimi Gbadamosi and Raél Salley).

These protagonists have in one way or another been in conversation for some time. The basis for these conversations has revolved around a dissatisfaction with the way things are, specifically the way in which art, music, politics, even ideas are shaped and constrained by industries that ultimately seem to serve the flows of capital and forms of power that prevail.

This critique—perhaps a new form of critique—is not one with content that is restricted to commentary. (*In other words, we actually DO this *ish). Importantly, the conversations and collaborations take form around proactively experimentation, improvisation, and making. We do not wait for the perfect context but instead insist on action that (performatively) suggests new ways forward. The movements of BLAXIS will take the form of a kind of call and response, each session having the shots called by one of the 3 entities (Marie, Mcata, Mogorosi). In this way, 3 discrete, distinct moments will cumulatively develop around the ideas contained in BLAXIS.