Chasing Rainbows with Athi-Patra Ruga
Ahead of Athi-Patra Ruga's highly anticipated Queens in Exile solo exhibition at Whatiftheworld gallery and to commemorate and celebrate his decade as a practicing artist, art commentator and consultant Mary Corrigall has curated a special artcrawl centered on this internationally renowned artist. The focus of the discussion between Corrigall and Ruga will be on the ways Ruga has evoked 'Rainbows'; from the brightly coloured balloon performances, to the fictitious worlds of Azania he has mapped and concretised in his tapestries to inserting queer culture and figures into real and imagined political struggle narratives.
The crawl begins at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art where after a short introduction Corrigall is in conversation with Ruga in front of his artworks that are on display in this museum. Here we take a closer look at his performance art practice, the procession mode and how it related to and informed his photographic practice, his staged photography on display at Zeitz. From here we travel to his studio in Woodstock, where he chats to us about his tapestry works for his upcoming exhibition. We will get to preview new works and view his remarkable new film Queens in Exile. The crawl will conclude at Whatiftheworld gallery with champagne, refreshments and light snacks.
