Curated by Farzanah Badsha (ZA), fellow of the programme "Curators in Residence - Curating Collections" of the foundation KfW Stiftung.

In the exhibition “BEHIND THE BLADE”, the South African guest curator Farzanah Badsha experiments with contemporary art from the Weltkulturen Museum’s South Africa collection. She is the first recipient of a fellowship from the KfW Stiftung “Curators in Residence: Curating Collections” programme.

Drawing on prints from the Weltkulturen Museum’s collection of art made by Black artists in South Africa in the 1970s and 80s, this exhibition offers ways to experience the work from a contemporary perspective. This vantage point takes into account the fraught political context of South Africa in the latter years of Apartheid during which these artists lived and made art. It invites the viewer to read their practice in a continuum between then and now.

The exhibition focuses on the work of three artists from the museum’s collection: John Muafangejo (1943-1987), Azaria Mbatha (*1941) and Dan Rakgoathe (1937-2004). One work of each of these elder artists is shown in full in the exhibition, as well as enlarged extracts of other prints by them. An additional layer can be found in the work of contemporary print maker, Vulindlela Nyoni (1976), and in the carpet woven at Rorke's Drift.  The print by Nyoni shows how the work and lives of these pioneering Black artists still influence contemporary artists and provide them with important art historical anchors and personal inspiration.

Farzanah Badsha (ZA) is an independent curator and arts manager.
From 2012-2013 she was Programme Manager of “Creative Cape Town” at the “Cape Town Partnership”. During her time at “Creative Cape Town” her focus was on the “City Hall and City All Concert” series and policy discussions on public art in the City of Cape Town. Related to this she worked as a member of the curatorial panel and an adviser to the City of Cape Town on the “art54” project, to place temporary public art in Ward 54. From 2008-2010 she was project manager and part of the curatorial team for the “Spier Contemporary 2010” exhibition organised by the Africa Centre. 2006-2008 she worked as the Visual Arts Manager of the Africa Centre. Currently she is a Board member and Secretary of the Africa South Art Initiative (ASAI) and her latest curatorial project before starting her residency was entitled “Shop Front and Centre” where she curated contemporary Sout h African art in empty shop windows along one of the busiest commuter routes in Cape Towns city centre.

“Curators in Residence: Curating Collections"
A programme of the foundation KfW Stiftung
The KfW Stiftung’s “Curators in Residence” programme offers outstanding young curators from Latin America, Africa and Asia the opportunity to spend several months in Germany, with the objective of promoting intellectual exchange in exhibition practice. There are fellowships in Berlin and Frankfurt, each with a specific profile oriented on curators’ differing needs and approaches.

The Frankfurt “Curating Collections” programme enables one curator per year to spend three months working at the Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt am Main, in order to create links between contemporary art and the debate around the ethnographic collection. The programme aims to professionalise curatorial training, enhance sensitivity to cultural and historical heritage, and deepen critical awareness of contemporary artistic discourses.

15th July until 31st August 2014
Weltkulturen Labor, Green Room
Schaumainkai 37, 60594 Frankfurt
Tues-Sun 11am-6pm, Wed 11am-8pm
€3 / reduced €1.50