“Displaced and uprooted”: Buhlebezwe Siwani’s visual art of healing
This article examines a selection of the recent work of South African artist and sangoma (traditional healer) Buhlebezwe Siwani, namely the video installations uNgenzelephantsi (2014) and AmaHubo (2018) and the multimedia exhibitions iYeza (Makhanda, 2022 and Johannesburg, 2023) and ulwela amaza (Am...
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| Publicado en: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles, |
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| Formato: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Lenguaje: | Anglais |
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Angles
2025
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| Acceso en línea: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_9648 |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_9648 https://doi.org/10.4000/159or urn:doi:10.4000/159or en https://journals.openedition.org/angles/9648 2025-12-03T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/159or https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ “Displaced and uprooted”: Buhlebezwe Siwani’s visual art of healing Angles Société des Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2274-2042 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles Poulain, Alexandra South Africa video performance Buhlebezwe Siwani sangoma healing Netherlands Ariella Aïsha Azoulay unlearning This article examines a selection of the recent work of South African artist and sangoma (traditional healer) Buhlebezwe Siwani, namely the video installations uNgenzelephantsi (2014) and AmaHubo (2018) and the multimedia exhibitions iYeza (Makhanda, 2022 and Johannesburg, 2023) and ulwela amaza (Amsterdam, 2025). Drawing on Ariella Aïsha Azoulay’s Potential History, it argues that the work performs a complex gesture of “unlearning” of hegemonic imperial narratives and disengages from dominant epistemologies and understandings of the world, producing instead a visual universe which retrieves the traumatic, silenced histories of Indigenous people in South Africa and of African diasporic communities in the Netherlands, and accommodates multiple epistemic and spiritual traditions. For Siwani, art is not separable from her work as a healer, but is itself a healing practice. Cet article analyse une sélection des oeuvres récentes de l’artiste et sangoma (guérisseuse traditionnelle) sud-africaine Buhlebezwe Siwani : les installations vidéo uNgenzelephantsi (2014) et AmaHubo (2018), ainsi que les expositions multimédia iYeza (Makhanda, 2022 et Johannesburg, 2023) et ulwela amaza (Amsterdam, 2025). En m’appuyant sur Potential History d’Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, je montre que l’œuvre de Siwani opère un geste complexe de « désapprentissage » des récits impérialistes hégémoniques et s’affranchit des épistémologies dominantes, créant ainsi un univers visuel où peuvent se déployer les récits marginalisés des populations autochtones en Afrique du Sud et des communautés de la diaspora africaine aux Pays-Bas, et cohabiter des traditions épistémiques et spirituelles multiples. Pour Siwani, l’art n'est pas séparable de son travail de guérisseuse, mais constitue en lui-même une pratique de guérison. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
South Africa video performance Buhlebezwe Siwani sangoma healing Netherlands Ariella Aïsha Azoulay unlearning |
| spellingShingle |
South Africa video performance Buhlebezwe Siwani sangoma healing Netherlands Ariella Aïsha Azoulay unlearning Poulain, Alexandra “Displaced and uprooted”: Buhlebezwe Siwani’s visual art of healing |
| description |
This article examines a selection of the recent work of South African artist and sangoma (traditional healer) Buhlebezwe Siwani, namely the video installations uNgenzelephantsi (2014) and AmaHubo (2018) and the multimedia exhibitions iYeza (Makhanda, 2022 and Johannesburg, 2023) and ulwela amaza (Amsterdam, 2025). Drawing on Ariella Aïsha Azoulay’s Potential History, it argues that the work performs a complex gesture of “unlearning” of hegemonic imperial narratives and disengages from dominant epistemologies and understandings of the world, producing instead a visual universe which retrieves the traumatic, silenced histories of Indigenous people in South Africa and of African diasporic communities in the Netherlands, and accommodates multiple epistemic and spiritual traditions. For Siwani, art is not separable from her work as a healer, but is itself a healing practice. |
| author |
Poulain, Alexandra |
| author_facet |
Poulain, Alexandra |
| author_sort |
Poulain, Alexandra |
| title |
“Displaced and uprooted”: Buhlebezwe Siwani’s visual art of healing |
| title_short |
“Displaced and uprooted”: Buhlebezwe Siwani’s visual art of healing |
| title_full |
“Displaced and uprooted”: Buhlebezwe Siwani’s visual art of healing |
| title_fullStr |
“Displaced and uprooted”: Buhlebezwe Siwani’s visual art of healing |
| title_full_unstemmed |
“Displaced and uprooted”: Buhlebezwe Siwani’s visual art of healing |
| title_sort |
“displaced and uprooted”: buhlebezwe siwani’s visual art of healing |
| publisher |
Angles |
| publishDate |
2025 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/159or https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/angles/9648 |
| _version_ |
1877291862296887296 |