Francois
Knoetze.

This sculptural mask references the tsetse fly, a large biting fly that inhabits much of Africa’s tropical region.

 

This sculpture forms part of a broader collaborative research project (under Lo-Def Film Factory in collaboration with Russel Hlongwane and Amy Louise Wilson) which explores the idea of an African technological consciousness.

 

This work seeks to cast light on the context-specific nature of technological innovation, and to develop a portrait of the network of conflicting actors and forces which shape our understanding and use of technology.

 

The image of the tsetse fly is inspired by Zimbabwean academic and project mentor Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga’s ‘The Mobile Workshop: The Tsetse Fly and African Knowledge Production’ (2018) which explores African knowledge about tsetse as a space to disrupt the discourse about science, technology and innovation and to foreground the local everyday production and organisation of knowledge.