Emandulo Re-Creation is a collaborative artist book produced in Johannesburg, South Africa. I organized this project at Artist Proof Studio, a printmaking facility set up for Black community artists. Emandulo was designed to challenge boundaries between peoples: nineteen South African artists with a range of artistic styles and demographic standing were invited to participate in this large

collaborative artist book, as well as Atta Kwami from Ghana, András Böröcz and myself, from the US. Artist Proof Studio artists functioned as the production printers under the tutelage of an invited master printer.

 

I intended to create a version of a printer's exquisite corpse: where body parts are made by the participants and can be re-arranged to form different configurations. The theme I chose was the creation myth (Emandulo means in Zulu in the beginning) as it seemed that a country with so many peoples would have a fascinating range of creation mythology. How life began, and the mythologies adhered to about the human life cycle are essential aspects to understanding society. And by mixing and matching sections of each artists' contribution, the book forced a mix between their concepts, creation mythology & art (& the artists), relevant actions in post-Apartheid South Africa.

 

Participants (in alphabetical order): Pepe Abela, Deborah Bell, Kim Berman, András Böröcz, Keith Dietrich, Gordon Gabashane, Carol Hofmeyr, Basil Jones, William Kentridge, David Koloane, Atta Kwami, Frank Ledimo, Simon Mthimkhulu, Sam Nthlengethwa, John Roome, Ruth Sack, Mmakgabo Sebedi, Robbin Ami Silverberg, Simon Stone, Grace Tshikhuve, Diane Victor & Nhlanhla Xaba.