Mapungubwe Ceramics
2021-2022
Exhibition design, Javett Art Centre, UP Museums
for Craig McClenaghan Architecture
Mapungubwe Ceramics
2021-2022
Exhibition design, Javett Art Centre, UP Museums
for Craig McClenaghan Architecture
The relationships between and reflections on landscape, artefact, and people conceptualise the lobby space of the Mapungubwe Gold Exhibition by spotlighting the displaced ceramics of the Kingdom of Mapungubwe currently held in the University of Pretoria collections
A reproduction of the blueprints of ceramic profiles backgrounds the actual ceramics locked in glass boxes. These reflect the landscape of Mapungubwe Hill on the opposite side of the room, the surface of which forms a screen for the projection of contemporary film, text, and performance artwork.
Drawings, photographs and other archival material flick through little screens while voices of the landscape accompany the installation through a soundscape. The portrait of Petty Chief Tshiwana, a descendant of the royalty of Mapungubwe, gazes across the room, as shadows of line drawings are
cast across the floor.
Reflection, shadow, light and sound create a space for dialogue, remembrance, and creative interpretation.
Team: Craig McClenaghan
Curator: Sian Tiley-Nel