The Mirror • A Tribute to The South African Astronomical Observatory
THE OLD GRANARY
27 OCTOBER - 25 NOVEMBER 2020
CORNER OF LONGMARKET AND HARRINGTON, CAPE TOWN
OUTDOOR 24hrs, INDOOR BY APPOINTMENT (TUES AND THURS 5-7pm)
VIRTUAL EXHIBITION (Suggested browser Chrome on Desktop)
Exhibition video Introduction with Prof Hedley Twidle
Hemelliggaam or The Attempt To Be Here Now is a visual archive, composed of photographs, video, installations, text and sounds that constantly moves between the reality of significant scientific sites and the imaginative fragments of old Afrikaans science fiction novels in particular reference to one of the most existential and emblematic writers, Jan Rabie (with his books 'Swart Ster oor die Karoo' - Black Star over the Karoo 1957, Die Groen Planeet - The Green Planet 1961, and 'Die Hemelblom' - Heaven Flower 1971).
The Mirror is a site-specific installation that can be experienced for 24hours a day at the Old Granary, created to celebrate 200 years of The South African Astronomical Observatory, where images, video text and sounds are overlapping- suggesting unpredictable scenarios. Inside the exhibition, found drawings, documents and old photographs are pushing the vision of the universal gesture of humans to find answers through science and the connection with nature, beyond the origins of humankind – investigating the meaning of representation and enticing the viewer to create a personal experience throughout a "constellation of elements".
Curator Filippo Maggia
Sound compositions Alessandro Gigli
Scientific team Mattia Vaccari, Lucia Marchetti and Michelle Cluver from Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape.
Consultant Davide Chinigò
Supported by
National Research Foundation
Institute of Italian Culture, Pretoria
Consulate of Italy in Cape Town
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Special thanks to
Friends of Thandolwethu
Badhen Lab
Prof Hedley Twidle