occupation of mashonaland remixed
DESCRIPTION
A fresh, creative re- look at the colonial history of Zimbabwe. Originally presented in Edmonton, Canada, at an event held in honor of the International Day for Elimination of Racism (March 21 2015)TRANSCRIPT
StatementFor the most part, the voice of the colonized is not present in colonial literature. ‘The Occupation of Mashonaland,’ by William D Fry contains images of the Pioneer Column ( a paramilitary wing of the
British South Africa Company, owned by Cecil John Rhodes), moving into and occupying the region of Zimbabwe they named Mashonaland (land of the Shona people.) Images of the indigenous African people, at the very least, objectified the locals. Not very unlike the ‘World Vision - esque’ images we
see today on television.
Today, we can go back in time, and playfully challenge the politics of the era. Analogue meets digital, and without erasing ‘their story’ we can use technology to talk back to the stories told in colonial literature. We will never know our full history,we will never know the history of the Africans Fry
photographed but we can make a statement.
I hope this brief presentation of work in progress, prompts the viewer to think about objectification and responding with beauty and dignity to complete a story. The work is personal. This is a part of my
peoples, and my family’s history and I hope this is reflected in this experimetal work.
First Camp at Fort Salisbury (Now Harare) - 1890(Original Image by William D Fry, 1890)
Original Photos from 1890, by William D Fry (BSAC)
Harare, Zimbabwe (2015)
“A Meeting’(Original Image by William D Fry, 1890)
Mashona Bartering(Original Image by William D Fry, 1890)
What’s the Value ?
A Group of Natives, Zimbabye Hill(Original Image by William D Fry, 1890)
Ngirozi (Angel)
Two Mashonas(Original Image by William D Fry, 1890)
3 Mashona Boys
The Morning Milk(Original Image by William D Fry, 1890)
A Happy Couple
No Caption(Original Image by William D Fry, 1890)
Freedom to Change,2015