WONDERLAND by Nontsikelelo Veleko
National Arts Festival, Grahamstown 26 June – 5 July 2008 Internationally acclaimed artist Nontsikelelo Veleko’s extraordinary journey in photography started from an interest in exploring identity. Earlier, ongoing projects include The One’s on Top Won’t Make it Stop!, in which she directs her lens at public space through the documentation of graffiti, whereas www.notblackenough.lolo profiles prejudice and reductive stereotyping. Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder! is an ongoing celebration of the South African ‘Born Free’ generation and their expression of identity through dress and fashion. Veleko is currently stationed in Wonderland, which she describes as “a step further in investigating the social and emotional states of my surroundings – South Africa is my place of departure, by experience and location, but conceptually I am interested in the discovery of the world”. On show will be new work, and whilst Wonderland contains thematic strands explored in previous bodi...