“Around grade 10, there was this whole drama in the school because of what I felt was different treatment – that when the white girls coloured their hair, so they'd come in one day, their hair’s blonde, next week hair’s red, week three the hair’s black, and nobody says anything…So I coloured my hair ginger. My parents were called in, I was suspended, I was set up for expulsion…So this whole thing stuck to me, of how hair then became this very small symbol for this underlying injustice and unfair treatment.”

Nkule Mabaso, an artist and curator with a Fine Art degree from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and a Masters in Curating from Zurich University of the Arts, is best known as a curator of visual art. This includes her role as Curator of UCT's Michaelis Galleries – where she curates and coordinates exhibitions, talks and symposiums – as well as major independent projects like the South African pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which she co-curated with Dr Nomusa Makhubu in 2019.

But in this episode, we explore a critical but lesser-known facet of her diverse practice: Mabaso’s experience creating and curating performative interventions and installations that probe the politics of hair and beauty.

In particular, we dive into her 2012-2013 performance The Black Threat, a collaboration with artist Maninzi Kwatshube, starting with a walk through Cape Town’s CBD to re-visit the site where the work intervened into the public life of the city in March of 2013.

Music in this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions: Careless Morning; Smooth Stone; Steadfast and The Summit.

The ICA Podcast is a creation of the Institute for Creative Arts (ICA) at the University of Cape Town. Produced and edited by Catherine Boulle.

Read more about the ICA and the vision for the podcast: http://www.ica.uct.ac.za/ica/podcast/abouttheicapodcast.