The Original is Unfaithful to the Translation

The Original is Unfaithful to the Translation flyer

see press release (text by Matthew Blackman)

V for Vendetta, Guy Fawkes, anonymous, African masks, African revenge, Zimbabwe

V for Vendetta 2015

V for Vendetta 2015 African Masks, Muti

These five V for Vendetta masks are based on the Guy Fawkes mask worn by the protagonist in the graphic novel V for Vendetta. V for Vendetta has been seen by many political groups as an allegory of oppression by government; libertarians and anarchists have used it to promote their beliefs. Members of the international activist group Anonymous can be distinguished by the wearing of these Guy Fawkes masks.

The five masks in my series reference archetypal African mask-types from different regions, including one in the style of a Malawi ebony mask; a beaded Cameroonian mask; a Benin bronze; an Ndebele mask and a mask from the Ivory Coast (left to right in the photo).

The work also refers to the way in which African masks, once rooted in particular places and practices, have become a form of commodity disconnected from their origins, made in response to a tourist market for iconic versions.

V for Vendetta 1 2015

V for Vendetta 3 2015

V for Vendetta 5 2015

V for Vendetta, Guy Fawkes, anonymous, Zimbabwe

V for Vendetta 3D mill 2015

Rudd Concession 2015

Rudd Concession 2015 Hand-woven archival ink-jet prints 47 x 39 cm

Rudd Concession (detail) 2015

detail

A For Anonymous 2015 Hand-woven archival ink-jet prints and matches
64 × 90 cm

Guy Fawkes’ signature before and after torture, taken from his signed confession.

We Come in Peace Seeking Gold and Slaves 2015

We Come in Peace Seeking Gold and Slaves 2015 Found plastic-weave bag, custom-made tartan fabric
65 x 70 cm

We Come in Peace Seeking Gold and Slaves (detail) 2015

detail

Given Another Chance in the Colonies 2014

Given Another Chance in the Colonies 2014 Found plastic-weave bag, custom-made tartan fabric
65 x 70 cm

Kure Ndokusina Kwachiri Unofa Wasvika 2014

Kure Ndokusina Kwachiri Unofa Wasvika 2014 Found plastic-weave bag, custom-made tartan fabric
65 x 70 cm

Kure ndokusina, kwachiri unofa wasvika. (Shona)
Far is where there is nothing, where something is that you will struggle to the death to reach. (Literal English translation)
Where there is a will there is a way. (Closest English equivalent proverb)

Shona Proverb

The nothing and something connoted by the proverb is “value” so far as there is nothing of value to the individual then such a thing remains unsought for, far out of reach. On the other hand, where an outcome is valued then all means and effort at the disposal of the individual will be marshaled to achieve it, thus nullifying the common understanding of “far.” The one aiming for the valued goal will expend effort even to death to reach it.

Traditionally the Shona people in Zimbabwe used several variations of this proverb such as:

Kure ndokuna mai, kunemukadzi unofa waswika. Far is where mother is; where there is the woman you love you will expend all effort, even to death, to get there. (Literal English translation)
Kure kwegava ndokusina mutsubvu. It is far for the jackal where there is no hubvu fruit tree. (Literal English translation)

Through observing the jackal the Shona people established hubvu, the fruit of the mutsubvu tree, as the animal’s favorite fruit. What the variations illustrate is that values differ from situation to situation: for a man the love for his wife or girlfriend surpasses that for his mother, for the jackal it is love for the hubvu fruit. It is the sought after goals that determine the time and effort to be expended and also one’s priorities.