5th Nov, 2020 19:00
Aspire X PLP | African Photography Auction 2020
56
Masixole Feni (South Africa 1987-)
Siqalo informal settlement near Mitchells Plain (from the Drain on our Dignity series)
archival ink print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag
Artwork date: circa 2017
Signature details: signed
Edition: number 2 from an edition of 10
archival ink print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag
Artwork date: circa 2017
Signature details: signed
Edition: number 2 from an edition of 10
(1)
image size: 32 x 49.5 cm, sheet size: 42 x 59.5 cm, unframed
Notes:
Masixole Feni was born in Cape Town and grew up in Sakhumzi orphanage down the road from where he currently lives in Mfuleni, near Khayelitsha. Feni was introduced to photography at a young age by the late Garth Stead and the Icon Photography Group, and through Jenny Altschuler’s 1999 Drumming Photography workshops at the Iziko South African Museum. While still in high school, he startedfreelancing for local news outlets, including The Cape Times, The Argus and GroundUp. In 2010, Feni became a full-time trainee at the SA Centre for Photography on Altschuler’s informal photography programme. He also worked with the photo collective Iliso Labantu.Troubled by the sensational reporting around service delivery protests in townships, he was inspired to challenge the linear view that the media take in their coverage. For several years, Feni has been documenting the water and sanitation conditions around him. As a ‘backyard dweller’ himself, he brings a new sensitivity to issues around service delivery. Feni was the winner of the prestigious Ernest Cole Award in 2015 for his project, Drain on our Dignity, which was published by Jacana in 2018 and exhibited at the Centre for African Studies Gallery, University of Cape Town; KZNSA Gallery, Durban; and Wits Arts Museum, Johannesburg. Both works o"ered on auction are part of Drain on our Dignity. Of Feni’s inside eye on the life in the informal settlements of the Cape Flats, spatial researcher and architect, Ilze Wol", notes, "His visualisation of inequality, structural violence and his own imaginative response through photography is in itself a reflection on human creativity despite the limits put forward by power." Feni’s work transcends the mere record of this life to show the resilience of people who make a dignified life under di!cult and unjust conditions. His images bring a humanity, a voice and face to the statistics of marginalised communities. As observed by Axolile Notawala of the Social Justice Coalition, "Drain on our Dignity must be viewed not just as a photo project. It must be a constant reminder that the dignity of the poor and working-class communities that are subjected to these conditions is trampled on every single day while we watch." Drain on our Dignity was published by Jacana in 2018 and exhibited at the Centre for African Studies Gallery, University of Cape Town; KZNSA Gallery, Durban; andWits Arts Museum, Johannesburg.
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Auction: Aspire X PLP | African Photography Auction 2020, 5th Nov, 2020
A collection of pan-African works, straddling the terrain between historical and contemporary photography, were auctioned to support the digitisation of African photographic legacies by the Photography Legacy Project (PLP). Bidders participated from across Europe, the USA and UK, Asia, Australia and Africa – a testament to Aspire’s increasing global reach and collectors’ enthusiasm for African photography.
The auction included photographic luminaries such as David Goldblatt, Alf Kumalo, G.R. Naidoo, Ranjith Kally and Ian Berry, as well as more contemporary internationally acclaimed photographers like Guy Tillim, Jo Ractliffe, Syowia Kyambi and Mikhael Subotzky. The lead lot, a portfolio of 12 silver gelatin prints from the legendary photographer Ernest Cole’s seminal 1967 book House of Bondage sold for an astounding R569,000 – a new world auction record.
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