June 16 1976–2011

SOWETO UPRISING
On the morning of June 16, 1976, thousands of black students walked from their schools to Orlando Stadium for a rally to protest against having to learn through Afrikaans in school.

Orlando Stadium, June 16, 2011

Many students who later participated in the protest arrived at school that morning without prior knowledge of the protest, yet agreed to become involved.

Orlando Stadium, June 16, 2011

The protest was intended to be peaceful and had been carefully planned by the Soweto Students’ Representative Council’s (SSRC) Action Committee, with support from the wider Black Consciousness Movement.

Orlando Stadium, June 16, 2011

Orlando Stadium, June 16, 2011

The Soweto Uprising, also known as «June 16», was a series of student-led protests in South Africa that began on the morning of June 16, 1976.

Orlando Stadium, June 16, 2011

Students from numerous Sowetan schools began to protest in the streets of Soweto, in response to the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in local schools.

Orlando Stadium, June 16, 2011

An estimated 20 000 students took part in the protests, and roughly 176 people were killed. The 16th of June is now a public holiday, Youth Day, in South Africa, in remembrance of the events in 1976.

Orlando Stadium, June 16, 2011

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audio recording of Antoinette Sithole [ Audio File, June 16, 1976 ]
txt wikipedia [ Soweto uprising ]
picts by [ dewil.ch ] (cc) JHB, June 16 2011
 
 

T.W.B.T.C

 To Whom Belongs The City | A Chi Appartiene La Città 
 Wem gehört die Stadt 

Video, 30 minutes, colour with audio, 2011; 25-channel-video-installation, colour with audio, approx. 600 min. (total), 2011

 Synopsis 

The video «T.W.B.T.C» is part of a video installation shown at the Basel art and project space KASKO, March 5–20, 2011 [ KASKO ].

The 30 minutes video «T.W.B.T.C» is concentrating a collection of the twenty-five video interviews. The video conversations were recorded over a four years periode (2006–2010). The setting takes place in a backdrop of seven living environments, job locations and metropolis, involving the following venues: South-, Southeast and Central European cities like Rome, Bucharest, Berlin, Basel, Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich.

Are there any meeting points? How distinguishable are these metropolis in a Europe of ‘common’ boundaries?

The focus of the video work are twenty-five encounters with women. All dealing with cultural background, out of their own praxis intriguing daily routine and surroundings emerge. The interview partners chose a meeting point in their respectively city. The description of place and meaning gave the opening for the recordings. These highly personal statements outlined a multifaceted view of the cities.

The video wants to develop a discursive contribution, which should highlight the sights of the (female) interviewed on the (global) city and society—hence a living environment related to all its possibilities and restrictions.

Where does the postulates of the emancipatory movement in the 21st century stand? Is being a Feminist still an imperative? Or are there demands of a different challenge of solidarity, that can outreach social- and cultural borders, when the plain image of civil society are under pressure and steadily scrutinized? There are always people with migration background living in cities and yet still they are often denied to claim for their civil rights.
by Erik Dettwiler

Opening: Friday 4.03.2011 – 7 PM
6.03.–20.03.11 | Thu–Su 4–8 pm | CH-4058 Basel
[ Kasko ] Projektraum für aktuelle Kunst und Performance
Opening: Thursday 10.03.2011 – 6 PM
10.03.–15.03.11 | CH-Biel/Bienne
[ Lokal-int ] Raum für zeitgenössische Kunst

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Video stills, video trailer and txt all by [ dewil.ch ], cc 2011