Art_Africa_2016_02_

INTERVIEW / TANYA POOLE

THOZAMA AND ROSE / CHRISTIANE LANGE IN CONVERSATION WITH TANYA POOLE

THOZAMA AND ROSE

Christiane Lange in conversation with Tanya Poole

Galerie m Bochum, Germany, is currently hosting South African artist Tanya Poole’s

first major exhibition in Europe. A combination of large-scale ink drawings and video

installations, ‘Thozama and Rose’ confronts issues of motherhood, socio-economic

difference and conflict, born from the unexpected subject matter of karate.

Christiane Lange: The exhibition focuses on the story of two South African

women, Rose and Thozama. Could you tell me the story of these two?

Tanya Poole: I teach at the dojo (a place to train in Karate) and these two women came in

together to enroll in karate for the first time. Rose is a thirty-eight year-old middle-class

white South-African, who is a Doctor of Science at Rhodes University. She wanted the

exercise. Thozama, on the other hand, is a twenty-eight year-old local from the Eastern

Cape, who is quite religious. She had been through some trauma and had decided to take

on karate as a form of self-defense. I saw that they had a friendship but I didn’t know

their relationship. I later found out that Rose employs Thozama as her children’s nanny.

This is a very typical South African relationship, and yet they came to the dojo together.

They became very physical, aggressive and intimate all at the same time. I found this

fascinating.

It’s not the first time that karate and the idea of women fighting shows up in your

work. What is your personal experience with karate?

In the beginning I was intrigued by the notion of violence, aggression and conflict

within oneself. Over time, I realised that it was just a physical embodiment of cognitive

dissonance because every interaction in karate is also an interaction with the self. It was

a way for me to start playing those things out.

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