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A Practice of Critical Reciprocity Hentie Van Der Merwe

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A Practice of Critical Reciprocity Hentie Van Der Merwe Case-study methodology is not the only methodology that purports to be a process of making. Other modes of of of modes modes Other Other making. making. of of process process a a be be to to purports purports that that methodology methodology only only the the not not is is methodology methodology Case-study Case-study methodologies that I have identifi ed in my research include cartography (as in making observational maps) engagement engagement engagement maps) maps) observational observational making making in in (as (as cartography cartography include include research research my my in in ed ed identifi identifi have have I I that that methodologies methodologies with research narratives, auto-ethnographic fi eldwork as performance and analysis of the self in relation to others. others. others. to to relation relation in in self self the the of of analysis analysis and and performance performance as as eldwork eldwork fi fi auto-ethnographic auto-ethnographic narratives, narratives, research research with with However the primary methodology in my research that of a case-study. This methodology appears to be the most eff ective ective ective eff eff most most the the be be to to appears appears methodology methodology This This case-study. case-study. a a of of that that research research my my in in methodology methodology primary primary the the However However in translating the research as an operation of production while simultaneously styling the research outcomes within the the the within within outcomes outcomes research research the the styling styling simultaneously simultaneously while while production production of of operation operation an an as as research research the the translating translating in in mechanics of refl exivity. Case-study methodology may appear to be clinical in its form but its frame assists in providing providing providing in in assists assists frame frame its its but but form form its its in in clinical clinical be be to to appear appear may may methodology methodology Case-study Case-study exivity. exivity. refl refl of of mechanics mechanics This is a mirror exercise where participants look at each other as a group refl ected in a large mirror. They would would They mirror. large a in ected refl group a as other each at look participants where exercise mirror a is This concentrate in silence observing each other, making mental notes of each other’s appearance and observing any any observing and appearance other’s each of notes mental making other, each observing silence in concentrate → In my artistic practice I often develop a body of work by means of a process of interacting with one or more archives. In fact, this way of working has come to be a recurring methodology to such an extent that it is now intrinsic to my practice. In this paper I elaborate on such a working process and, in doing so, explain how, as outcome, a larger The archive in project of critical research and knowledge production ensues, which is mutually benefi cial not only to the artworks resulting from such a Don’t Call Me a Rebel: process, but also the archive/s with which I interact – thus eff ecting a kind of critical reciprocity between my practice and ‘the archive’. In A practice of this paper, I explicate the above through an analysis of the collabo- rative project I am currently working on for the stage, provisionally critical reciprocity titled Don’t Call Me A Rebel. It is a work in the genre of music-theatre. This project draws extensively from two separate archives; on the one hentie van der Merwe hand an audio-archive of Nama folktales collected by the folklorist Sigrid Schmidt during the last 40 years of the twentieth-century and, BIOGRAPHY on the other, a remarkable collection of letters between the Nama Hentie van der Merwe lives and works in Cape Town. He is Senior leader, Captain Hendrik Witbooi, and the German colonial governor, Lecturer in photography at the Visual Arts Department, University of Stellenbosch. Major Theodor Leutwein, at the end of the nineteenth-century, in Namibia. imaging ourselves 276 the archive in don’T call Me a rebel: a practice of critical reciprocity the archive in don’T call Me a rebel: a practice of critical reciprocity In my artistic practice I often develop a body of work these into Don’t Call Me a Rebel that the work started Witbooi/Leutwein correspondence and thereafter whether or not Witbooi would sign the treaty, the by means of a process of interacting with one or more to take shape and clarity. moving to the audio archive of Nama folktales. letters also speak of many other things, as letters do, archives.i In fact, this way of working has come to be and reveal personalities that are complex, nuanced a recurring methodology to such an extent that it is I happened upon the Witbooi/Leutwein correspond- The remarkable correspondence (The Hendrik Witbooi and often contradictory in nature. Here the researcher now intrinsic to my practice. In this paper I elaborate ence and the Schmidt archive of Nama folklore Papers 1995) between Hendrik Witbooi and Theodor gets a sense of Witbooi’s piercing intelligence and on such a working process and, in doing so, explain at around the same time in 2007. Both archives Leutwein took place over the course of a few months, in his political cunning, but also his hunger for power. how, as outcome, a larger project of critical research fascinated me and I undertook trips to both Namibia 1894, while both men were stationed in the Naukluft in The correspondence also reveals a sense of Leutwein, and knowledge production ensues, which is mutually and Germany where the respective archives are held Namibia.vi During the time of Germany’s colonisation his political naivety and his moments of arrogance, beneficial not only to the artworks resulting from in order to research them first-hand. In Namibia I of Namibia (then South-West Africa) Leutwein was but also a man with an ability to be compassionate. such a process, but also the archive/s with which I spent time in Windhoek at the National Archives going appointed governor and, together with a small force of The letters speak of two men with a certain degree interact – thus effecting a kind of critical reciprocity through the actual correspondence between Leutwein military Schutztruppen (a protection force or colonial of respect for and understanding of each other as between my practice and ‘the archive’. and Witbooi, as well as researching all other documen- force or protection troops), was given the express political opponents. Besides bearing witness to these tation I could find related to the correspondence. In task by the Berlin colonial authorities to persuade all fascinating inter-personal tensions, the letters also I explicate the above through an analysis of the Germany I went to Hildesheim where Dr. Schmidt tribes in Namibia to sign a ‘Protection Treaty’, which, stand as testimony to the perverse and violent nature collaborativeii project I am currently working on for lives and here I met with and interviewed her about in actuality, was Germany’s alibi for taking possession of acts of colonisation. The correspondence speaks the stage, provisionally titled Don’t Call Me A Rebel. It various aspects of the archive she had assembled. of the country without having to spend money or lives of the absurd arguments employed at times by both is a work in the genre of music-theatre:iii a combina- She generously allowed me to spend time listening to in the process; in other words, colonialisation through the coloniser and colonised in moments of power tion of dramatic action and speech, Sprechstimme,iv her audio recordings and comparing these with her the act of persuasion. Most tribes did end up signing abuse - the coloniser in his attempt to persuade the movement and dance, music, singing (both in the transcriptions and English translations of the tales. the treaty, save for the Nama leader. Leutwein made colonised to submit to his power and the colonised in conventions of opera and folksong), costume and She also gave me permission to make digital copies of it his foremost business to try to get Witbooi to sign trying to dissuade the coloniser from taking posses- prop, and video images projected on stage. It is a a selection of these recordings for possible use in the since he knew that without this signature the process sion of his land. work in which a complex web is spun, by means of the stage production. of Germany’s colonisation of the country would not be poetics of performance, of quotations and re-scripted complete. Leutwein realised that he was up against Another fascinating aspect of the exchange is the fact references relating to a variety of archival sources My first-hand encounters with both these archives a political opponent with extraordinary political that both men were fluent in the language of power and dating from the end of the nineteenth-century to helped me to understand something of the complex, skill and cunning, and that he would have to use all conquest. In his letters to Leutwein, Witbooi presents the present. The work takes place in 1894 in the multi-dimensional signifying potential of the various his persuasive skills to obtain this signature and, if himself as the innocent captain of his people trying Naukluft, Namibia. The characters are as follows: documents contained in each. I became aware of the this tactic failed, that the Namas would have to be to defend what is rightfully his (land) against the Captain Hendrik Witbooi (leader of the Witbooi way in which the content of these documents often is persuaded by force.
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