Up-rooted

In a new exhibition, local artist Neill Wright looks to the predatory culture that has emerged in South Africa.
Posted 28 Feb 11 By Design Indaba Creative Work / Design News Comments

The social products of contemporary society, examined from a South African perspective is the focus of Neill Wright’s solo exhibition at Salon 91 in Cape Town.

Running until 19 March 2011, the exhibition titled Protect Your Roots combines the mediums of sculpture, digital and screen printing. Working to investigate the way in which South Africans have come to define forms of anti-social behaviour by terms that have their origin in the American wild-west, Wright uses his work as a platform to raise questions about this “predatory” culture.

At the root of Wright’s work is his observation that lawlessness, unaccountability and greed are increasingly dominating social discourse, resulting in the systematic weakening of the notion of Ubuntu, it being replaced instead with the “I am one” culture.

Ultimately Wright questions the concept of “culture” in South Africa and how it can be defended in the African context.