{"id":2431,"date":"2014-06-02T15:47:18","date_gmt":"2014-06-02T13:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.le-hub.hear.fr\/playurban\/?p=2431"},"modified":"2021-10-03T21:18:15","modified_gmt":"2021-10-03T19:18:15","slug":"mandela-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.le-hub.hear.fr\/playurban\/2014\/06\/mandela-square\/","title":{"rendered":"Mandela Square"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"tryptique-mandela\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Auteurs \/ Authors :\u00a0C\u01celin Dan<\/p>\n

Description : analyse et documentation de l\u2019expression de la passion populaire pour Nelson Mandela telle qu\u2019elle s\u2019exprime au pied de sa statue g\u00e9ante \u00e0 Mandela Square au coeur de Sandton, le quartier d\u2019affaire de Johannesburg<\/p>\n

Axes de recherche \/ Research axes (Play\/Urban)\u00a0 : Public space\/common space, generate audience, performative and theatricality<\/p>\n

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><\/p>\n

In situ (may include different times > time 1, time 2, time 3, etc..)\/ peut inclure diff\u00e9rentes \u00e9tapes > Temps 1, Temps 2,Temps 3, etc..<\/b><\/p>\n

Medium : Photography<\/p>\n

Genre : reportage (images + texte)<\/p>\n

Concept : observation<\/p>\n

Participants : C\u01celin Dan et touristes<\/p>\n

Dur\u00e9e \/ Duration : une demi journ\u00e9e<\/p>\n

Ville \/ City : Johannesburg \/ Sandton<\/p>\n

Questions :<\/p>\n

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><\/p>\n

Exhibit<\/b><\/p>\n

Medium : photographies et texte<\/p>\n

Genre : installation murale<\/p>\n

Concept : rendre compte des pratiques d\u2019adoration de la figure de Mandela<\/p>\n

Participants : C\u01celin Dan et public<\/p>\n

Dur\u00e9e \/ Duration : soir\u00e9e d\u2019exposition final \u00e0 Parking gallery<\/p>\n

Ville \/ City : Johannesburg<\/p>\n

Date : septembre 2012<\/p>\n

Questions :<\/p>\n

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><\/p>\n

Analyse critique \/ Critical analysis :<\/p>\n

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><\/p>\n

Protocoles (collectif) d\u2019action \/ (collective) Action protocols : observation, photographie, \u00e9criture<\/p>\n

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><\/p>\n

texte de C\u01celin Dan<\/p>\n

There are several threads followed every time I have the leisure to explore a city: architectural landmarks are the entry point, text layers are following, then come the vernacular interventions, and finally come the people.<\/p>\n

People are the difficult share, because of the exploitation aspect, that does not need much explaining here. Therefore, it is a blessing when the narcissistic obsession people have with landmark photography occurs. Since everyone is having a ball of self-representation anyhow, my (photographic) gaze is not so intruding anymore.<\/p>\n

Nelson Mandela\u2019s monument in front of the \u201cMichelangelo Towers\u201d mall at Sandton is a gift if one is interested in the symbolic representations of the South African complexity. Without traveling, and with no risk involved, you just take time to look at the defil\u00e9e of people who let themselves be photographed (mostly) between the legs of the father figure of post-apartheid.<\/p>\n

That spectacle offers and endearing cross-section through the multi-ethnicity of the country, although one-dimensioned in terms of economics. But precisely this type of economic censorship implied by the location is relevant. If one looks carefully at the huge statue, the shabby clothes and worn out shoes of Mandela (otherwise known in his time as a sharp dresser) hint to the fact that those are his prison clothes. So, what does it give? Mandela walks toward us in prison garb, with a generous smile on his face. He is obviously free(d) and welcomes us into his freshly achieved state of freedom. Where does he come from? From the \u201cMichelangelo Towers\u201d mall, obviously. Would the mall behind be the prison he is just released from? Was he freed from the shopping culture on which the Sandton urban development is based? More likely the opposite: he actually invites us to join it. But then, where does the jail uniform come from? Did he rush directly from Robben Island to Sandton, to buy some new clothes and shoes, for his future appointments? Or is this a hint that the entire struggle, all the historical battles that went on for decades were aiming \u2013 directly \u2013 at providing the people with their share of mall experience?<\/p>\n

All those are questions which shouldn\u2019t bother the shoppers and visitors who embrace the legs of Madiba, transformed temporarily into the shopping god of our times. They have a right to consumerism, like anyone else, and they exercise this right to their best knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\t\t