There was a bit of an aggressive debate here a little while ago. Katharine Jacobs over at ArtThrob asks what Kudzanai Chiurai thought. One so seldom gets a response from the artist one talks about, I think it is great:

KJ: There was quite a controversial review of the show on ArtHeat, comparing your show to Xander Ferreira's 'Status of Greatness' earlier in the year. What did you think of that?

KC: Yeah I saw it. No… I’m aware, I read the comment, and it’s always been… I think Xander Ferreira has – I think that’s what the article talks about – he had a similar exhibition… I’m just doing what I like to do, whether they bring up race and all those other things, it’s really up to them. I’m just doing my job.

I think sometimes those discussions are actually quite important, but then that kind of discussion hasn’t gone beyond that. Also you can’t neglect your own history, it will always be a part of art that’s made in South Africa.

KJ: Do you think it’s a valid discussion?

KC: Well, I think it’s interesting, but it’s not necessarily going to change the way I make my work.

KJ: And the comment which one reader left? 'It does not surprise me when black artists succumb to the pressure and end up ridiculing themselves in return for some degree of acceptance…take the show that opened at Goodman last night "Dying to be men" which showcases works by a Zimbabwean artist.'

KC: I think black artists have actually been ridiculing their own culture since the sixties; it’s nothing new. In the Sixties, a lot of African countries gained their independence, and they were looking at themselves, exploring what has changed, what are we trying to become, what has left us like warring states… It’s nothing new. Black Americans have been doing it for centuries, there’s a painter – I can’t remember his name – he made this series of works using the symbol of Aunt Jemima, where he ridiculed his own culture. So I don’t think it’s anything new.

KJ: Would you say rather that it’s something which is important in a healthy society? That one is able to laugh at oneself?

KC: Yes, I think in some respects, yes. You get to a point where it helps to understand your psyche. It enables you to look at yourself, and ridicule yourself… You don’t do great things - I think that’s across all races - people are fucking up constantly. That’s the comforting part of our species I think. One part of our visual vocabulary is that: gun-toting heads of state, like in Zimbabwe. So yes, I think it’s quite important to ridicule yourself. In the 1960s, when a lot of African countries gained their independence, that was part of their identity formation – to see who they were.