African Somaesthetics : Cultures, Feminisms, Politics

"This addresses the problematic issue of the divisions and exclusions within the sphere of art and culture in South Africa. It does so by interpreting recent activist practices of cultural contestation, with a focus on interventions in 2014 by the Tokolos Stencil Collective - an anonymous activist grouping operative in Cape Town mainly - within the art exhibition "Plakkers" and the cultural event "Open City", in which Tokolos's social, political and urban activism intersects with issues of exclusion in the artistic and cultural realm. The article first analyses the specific activist means and strategies deployed here, such as the use of human excreta, obscene language and imagery, and a highly partisan posture"--