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Africa-Lite: Cultural Appropriation and Commodification of Historic Blackness in Post- Apartheid Fabric and Décor Design

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Africa-Lite: Cultural Appropriation and Commodification of Historic Blackness in Post- Apartheid Fabric and Décor Design Africa-Lite: Cultural appropriation and commodification of historic blackness in post- apartheid fabric and décor design By Annemi Conradie Dissertation presented for the degree of Doctor of Visual Arts in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University Supervisor: Prof. Lize van Robbroeck Department: Visual Arts April 2019 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Declaration By submitting this dissertation electronically, I declare that the entirety of the work contained therein is my own, original work, that I am the sole author thereof (save to the extent explicitly otherwise stated), that reproduction and publication thereof by Stellenbosch University will not infringe any third party rights and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it for obtaining any qualification. April 2019 Copyright © 2019 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Abstract Over the past few years, cultural appropriation has gained a degree of notoriety as a buzzword, after emerging into the wider public arena from academic, legal and political discourses. Internationally and in South Africa, debates arise predominantly around cases where historically asymmetric power relations are symbolically or materially re-enacted when dominant groups appropriate from economic or political minorities. This study examines the appropriation of colonial images of black individuals and bodies for commodification in twenty- first century South African décor and fabric design. A prominent trend in post-apartheid visual design, the re- purposing and commodification of archival photographs, and its circulation within local and global image economies and design markets demand further research and comprehensive theorising. I investigate the various aesthetic and discursive devices through which images of black bodies from South Africa’s pre-democratic past - including images of suffering, trauma and revolution - are assimilated for consumption and display within retail, leisure and domestic spheres. I use the notion of ‘subject appropriation’ to account for this form of appropriation, and to investigate the affiliation that indigenous groups claim with archival images in cases of objections to cultural appropriation, as well as where such groups deploy archival images for their own self-fashioning. In proposing a critical humanist and black existentialist approach to cultural appropriation, I suggest rethinking colonial representations as sites central to postcolonial ‘communities of practice’ in ongoing struggle for recognition, restitution and liberation. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Opsomming Hierdie tesis ondersoek die toeëiening van koloniale uitbeeldings van swart individue en liggame vir kommodifisering deur kontemporêre Suid-Afrikaanse interieur- en tekstielontwerpers. Oor die afgelope paar jaar het toenemende publieke debat oor kulturele toeëiening aan die konsep berugtheid verleen, waar dit voorheen meestal in akademiese, geregtelike en politieke sfere bespreek is. In Suid-Afrika en internasionaal ontstaan hierdie debatte meestal waar histories ongelyke magsverhoudinge in simboliese of materiële wyse dupliseer word wanneer dominante groepe die kulturele eiendom van polities en ekonomiese minderheidsgroepe toeëien. ‘n Prominente tendens in post-apartheid visuele ontwerp - die heraanwending en kommodifisering van argivale fotos - en gevolglike sirkulasie daarvan in plaaslike en globale ontwerp- en kulturele markte, verg verdere navorsing en omvattende teoretisering. Ek ondersoek die verskeie estetiese en diskursiewe wyses waarop historiese beelde van swart mense uit Suid- Afrika se koloniale verlede – ook beelde van lyding, rewolusie en trauma – assimileer word vir verbruik en tentoonstelling in handels-, ontspannings- en huishoudelike omgewings. Ek gebruik die konsep ‘subjek toeëiening’ om hierdie tipe kulturele toeëiening te bestudeer. Die term word ook gebruik om die affiliasie te ondersoek wat inheemse groepe beweer te hê met argivale beelde, hetsy tydens debatte rondom toeëiening, of waar argivale beelde vir eie kulturele herskepping ontplooi word. Vanuit ‘n krities humanistiese en swart eksistensiële perspektief, stel ek ‘n teoretiese benadering voor wat koloniale uitbeeldings heroorweeg as platforms wat sentraal staan in postkoloniale praktyksgemeenskappe en hul voortgesette stryd vir erkenning, restitusie en vryheid. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Acknowledgements This doctorate would not have been possible without the support and understanding of my supervisor, Lize van Robbroeck, whose passion and critical discernment have been infectious and sustaining for over a decade. For this, I express my deepest thanks and appreciation, particularly as the ride got a lot rougher than anticipated. I wish to thank the Stellenbosch University Graduate School at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences for financial and administrative support, and Cindy Steenekamp for her administrative and moral support. My sincerest gratitude and appreciation go to my parents, Dawid and Annet, and grandparents, Rita Conradie, Anneli and Hardy Loftus, for your love, prayers and unwavering support. Thank you also to my brothers, Dawie, Christiaan and Johan, for your friendship and loving support. I thank my friends Natasha Norman, Reza Ebrahim, Leida Dienner, Cinga Samson, Tracy Bailey, Mushé Degoot, Nina Wertholz, Chas Unwin, Kinoet Broeksma, Keith Dietrich, John, Ingrid and Aimeé Wolfaardt, Mark Wilby, the Cran-Moppit film club, and Lulu Brassler for accompanying me on this journey. Thank you for every discussion and debate, and each critical and difficult question about cultural appropriation. I am grateful to Chas Unwin for proofreading this dissertation with great scrutiny and perseverance. Thanks also to Tracy Bailey for technical assistance. I thank all the designers, lecturers, thinkers and creatives who shared their knowledge and critical understanding at various stages of this project, and I acknowledge the important insights of Amanda Breytenbach, Tracy Lynch, Gina Esterhuizen, Michael Godby, Clayton Sutherland, Nick Shepherd, Anthony Bogues, Brett Hilton-Barber and Stella Viljoen. I would like to thank participants at the following conferences and seminars for insightful comments, questions and suggestions: the annual Stellenbosch University doctoral colloquia; the 2014 Critical Addresses conference at the Visual Identities in Art and Design research centre at University of Johannesburg; the 2016 and 2018 South African Visual Arts Historians conferences; and the 2017 Leeds/Newcastle seminar on cultural appropriation. I thank AfriPix and Bridgit Hilton-Barber for their permission to reproduce the work of Steven Hilton-Barber. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to two remarkable South African women: my grandmother, Anneli Loftus, and my mother, Annet Conradie, whose lives have always been that of humble, consistent and unconditional love and respect for all human beings. Met liefde en dankbaarheid vir jul lewende voorbeeld. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za CONTENTS List of figures ..................................................................................................................................................... iv Preface ................................................................................................................................................ viii Chapter one: introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Africa-lite: thesis and focus ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Context and problem statement ................................................................................................................. 2 Cultural appropriation ................................................................................................................................. 5 1.3 Research questions and scope of study ...................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Research methodology ................................................................................................................................ 7 1.5 Contribution and significance of the study ............................................................................................... 11 1.6 Theoretical framework: bringing the war home ....................................................................................... 12 Fabric and décor accessories as commodities and signifying objects....................................................... 14 Commodity, commodification and consumer culture .............................................................................. 15 Race ........................................................................................................................................................... 18 1.7 Outline of chapters .................................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter two: towards a theory of cultural appropriation ...................................................................... 27 2.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................
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