ABOUT CONTEMPORARY ARCHIVE PROJECT

The Contemporary Archive Project (CAP) is a photography organisation focused on safeguarding and developing new photographic works in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) . CAP runs incubator programmes and is a collective for critical thinking, and building an ongoing archive of the province which it operates. CAP believes that written texts and narratives form a vital component of the archive.

LIST OF ARTISTS

Niamh Walsh-Vorster
Co-Founder & Programme Director

Niamh Walsh-Vorster is a Durban-based writer, independent photographer, and creative producer. She graduated in 2014 with a BJourn from Rhodes University in Makhanda, South Africa

Niamh is co-founder and editor of the award-winning e-zine, Ja. Magazine. She has exhibited photographic work in group shows at galleries, and independently in various public spaces. In 2016, Niamh was the recipient of a BASA Arts Journalism Award for her review in Ja. Magazine. She has worked with the Durban Center for Photography under the leadership of legendary AfraPix photographer, Peter McKenzie. She was part of the third Incubator Programme at The Market Photo Workshop, 2017 – 2018 in Johannesburg, mentored by Angela Buckland.

Niamh was project manager and photography mentor of the ARTLAB Mentorship programme. She is Programme Director of the Contemporary Archive Project. She recently graduated from the Cultural Producers Programme through Business Arts South Africa. She was the co-curator of Power Talks Durban.

Paulo Menezes
Co-Founder, Creative Producer

Paulo Menezes is a photographer based in Durban, South Africa. His work in documentary photography has allowed him to explore numerous spaces and subject matter both locally and internationally. With a keen interest in the archiving potential of photography, a large portion of his work naturally depicts Durban and KwaZulu-Natal.

Paulo is a former Vice Chairperson of the Durban Center for Photography (DCP) – a collective of photographers under the guidance of influential photographer and activist, Peter McKenzie. The collective realised a number of documentary projects and exhibitions, both locally and internationally, as well as facilitated educational programmes where Paulo took on the role of a mentor.

Paulo is co-founder of the recently formed Contemporary Archive Project – an incubator for critical thinking and the development, presenting and safeguarding of new photographic works contributing to an ongoing archive of KwaZulu-Natal.

In 2015 Paulo participated in Magnum Photographer Antoine D’Agata’s Studio Vortex artist residency in Arles, France. 2016 saw him selected for the Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA) Open Office Research Residency in Johannesburg. Outside of his work with organisations, Paulo is a professional freelance photographer. In 2013 Paulo completed a National Diploma in Photography through the Durban University of Technology. Paulo has participated in a number of exhibitions to date.

Thobani K
Photographer, Designer, Researcher
Thobani K-WRESTLEWITHGOD (b.1988), is a freelance image maker from Eskebheni (Inanda, South Africa), born in a tin house that was given to his family as temporary shelter after land dispossession caused by the erection of Inanda Dam. Thobani has an Honours degree in Media and Cultural Studies, as well as Masters in Development Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He has worked at HEARD research institute as an ethnographer, working in informal settlements around Durban. He was recently a participant in the ARTLAB Mentorship Programme.

Thobani’s identity as a black man has been shaped by interrogating the sociopolitical issues of water. Thobani’s family heritage is linked to Inanda Dam and its detrimental impact on land and livelihood, which has influenced his interest in the politics of water as an artist. He creates images that show stories of water pollution, displacement, and segregated water service systems by the municipality. Through photography and interviews, he aims to interrogate perceptions of gender in the black community by fostering insightful discourse.

Lindokuhle Ndlovu
Growing up in the township of KwaMashu in KwaZulu-Natal and attending primary school in the same town is one of the strongest memories I have about my neighbourhood. The times I spent with my late grandmother Miss Dombi Chiliza and the people I shared my life with at that moment in time in my early childhood, influence the work I create. “I can’t imagine a world without photography – capturing a unique moment in time that will never be repeated” (Gigi Williams).

Sibusiso Nzimande
Photographer, content creator

My name is Sibusiso Nzimande also known as CUBS, a visual storyteller who’s always curious and forever creating. A strategic thinker who specialises in building brands and forming meaningful relationships. I’m constantly inspired by my environments from the people I meet, the stories they share, the spaces I visit, and products I’ve come to love. I have a passion for film and photography, personal style, and conceptualizing creative concepts which I integrate with my interest in strategic branding via social media.

ABOUT THEIR WORK

The works on display and made available for collection comprises in-depth incubations and projects each photographer has explored over the past several months. The bodies of work delve into the socio-economic milieu of a province and celebrates, probes and presents real stories.

The work presented in this submission explores themes of water, heritage, identity, race and land. Juxtaposed to each other, the photographer’s creating photographic work in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, offer a glimpse into the multifaceted experience of KZN, from the inner city, to peri-urban and rural spaces.

Paulo Menezes’ work explores Durban’s beaches and its ever-changing uses and meanings. With the Indian Ocean as a backdrop, his work looks at migration and the Indian diaspora living in Durban, featuring small-scale fishing practices, to weekend family time along the promenade. He looks for intimate moments among those who frequent the beachfront.

Thobani K has been investigating the water issues in the area of Eskhebeni, Inanda, as well as connecting his family’s personal history with the space. He is also interested in finding sustainable solutions that are independent of government projects.

Niamh Walsh-Vorster’s work is focused on people and bodies of water, and their relations to it. The images comprise the Midmar Mile, the world’s largest annual open water race, to the Durban beach front during peak December time (also dated during the COVID-19 pandemic, where masks were legally necessary).

The socio-political, and economic, experience of swimming and engaging with water cannot be ignored in the South African context. Who gets to swim where? When do people begin swimming? What is the experience of swimming like for people of different backgrounds?

Sibusiso Nzimande exploresmasculinity through his love for fashion, Nzimande uses traditional motifs and garments, and photographs intimate portraits of men in vulnerable presentations.

Lindokuhle Ndlovu documents peri-urban and rural areas such as Estcourt (eMtshezi), to the inner city of Durban, and life of KwaMashu township, although his reach goes beyond. His images present a dream-life of spaces historically drenched in violence: a result of aparthied’s Group Areas Act and segregation laws. Ndlovu’s images court a

romance with real life, while peeking inside the thin shroud that covers the socio-economic landscape of the KZN province, post-apartheid.

These projects all inform a contemporary library of images, as part of CAP’s mission to safeguard and formalise image making as a vital capsule of history.