Look back at the IFAS-Research Workshop: “South African speculative arts: creation, circulation & reception”

On the 11th of July 2024, IFAS-Research hosted the “South African speculative arts” workshop, co-organised by Indiana Lods (Univ. de Bourgogne, one of IFAS-Research’s 2024 grantees) and Alan Muller (Univ. of Pretoria), moderated by Annael Le Poullennec (IFAS-Research) and Lawrence Lemaoana (visual artist, Occupy the Gallery).

Annael Le Poullennec introducing the workshop (credit: Léa Jobard)

This workshop brought together scholars, booksellers, literary agents, curators, writers and visual artists – some combining several of these occupations – all tackling the notion of “speculative art” in their respective practices. The event aimed to foster a dialogue around the definition(s) of “speculative art” in a South African context and across different art forms (literature, cinema, photography, painting, etc).

The afternoon started with a short introduction setting the basis for epistemological reflection and exposing the guiding questions of the workshop: the relevance of the “speculative” concept in South Africa, in research and in artistic practices.

Indiana Lods presented her PhD research project based at the University of Bourgogne (France) on futuristic narratives from Afrofuturism in American literature to South African speculative fiction. Alan Muller’s paper, based on his PhD project based at the University of Pretoria, explored the horror genre across literature, cinema and visual art in post-2010 South Africa. These presentations were commented by discussants such as Lawrence Lemaoana (Occupy the gallery), Esthie Hugo (Univ. of Wits), Micheal Titlestad (Univ. of Wits), Bibi Burger (Univ. of Cape Town) and Mélanie Joseph-Vilain (Univ. de Bourgogne).

Lawrence Lemaoana discussing Indiana’s and Alan’s presentations (credit: Léa Jobard)

Additionally, Russell Hlongwane presented and screened the creative research film Dzata: The Institute of Technological Consciousness (2023) by Francois Knoetze, Russel Hlongwane (in attendance) and Amy Louise Wilson (available on YouTube).

Based on the scholars’ papers and the film, an open roundtable sparked conversation between the public, discussants and speakers around issues such as:

  • the broad understanding of ‘speculative art’ in South Africa as a fluid and evolving term;
  • the influence of personal experience, socio-economical, cultural and religious backgrounds when approaching speculative arts;
  • the temporality of speculative artistic productions, establishing a coexistence between past, present and future, which may allow for mending disrupted relationships with the past, and resonate with certain South African spiritual practices such as ancestor worship;
  • the methodological tension between artistic creativity (and the need for artists and works to go beyond labels and categories) and academic research (seeking to map, define concepts and analyse artistic work).
Open roundtable (credit: Léa Jobard)
Open roundtable (credit: Léa Jobard)

Participants expressed a desire to continue the discussions in future workshops or events co-created by scholars and artists. If you’re interested in taking part in these discussions and learning more about the outcomes of this workshop, feel free to contact us: indiana.lods@u-bourgogne.fr ; comm.research@ifas.org.za