Songezile Churchill MADIKIDA (b. 1973)
Virus I
2005
Lambda print
edition 1/5
107 x 106 cm
Virus II
2005
Lambda print
edition 1/5
107 x 106 cm
Virus III
2005
Lambda print
edition 1/5
107 x 106 cm
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape, Songezile Churchill Madikida became a key figure in contemporary art through his incisive investigations into identity (ethnic, national and global), tradition, masculinities and the pervasive impact of HIV/AIDS on South African communities. His work is known for the way it confronts socio-cultural issues.
Madikida completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Fine Art at the University of the Witwatersrand. His performance art, video installations and mixed media works are largely autobiographical and explore his Xhosa cultural heritage through critical explorations of the rites and rituals of circumcision and initiation. His intent was not only to explore his personal processes, but also to expose the public at large to the rituals and ceremonies that help construct personal identity.
In 2003, Madikida exhibited a mixed media installation together with a projection, titled Liminal States, at the Johannesburg Art Gallery. The installation aspect comprised an ensemble of objects, including a hospital bed, felt blankets, animal skulls and drips. The video showed a close-cropped image of the artist ingesting large amounts of pap, or maize porridge. Even after his body was sated he continued to force feed himself.
His 2004 exhibition, Interminable Limbo, presented at the Michael Stevenson Gallery (now Stevenson) was followed by Status (2006), which highlighted the devastation wrought by HIV/AIDS. Through installations such as ‘shrines’ dedicated to victims and video pieces like Virus and Nemesis, Madikida addressed both the epidemic’s physical realities and its societal repercussions, including myths surrounding the disease. This exhibition was deeply personal, inspired by the death of his sister from HIV/AIDS-related complications. An activist with the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), she lived with HIV/Aids for nine years before passing away in April 2005. Madikida started the work for this show, his third solo exhibition, during the frequent visits he made to the hospice where his sister spent her last days. The show, which records his personal response to her death, was also presented as an act of solidarity with the TAC’s social activism.
Madikida also investigated themes of masculinity and familial absence, as in his Standard Bank Young Artist Award exhibition, Like Father Like Son. In this project, the artist used documentary-style presentations to explore his pursuit of the truth about his biological father and his upbringing. Having grown up with two stepfathers, and only having met his real father at the age of 32, the artist explored the trials and tribulations of this painful and tormented journey. His Standard Bank Young Artist Award 2006 catalogue, edited by Sophie Perryer, features essays by Steve Kwena Makoena and Colin Richards.
Madikida has been awarded several prestigious accolades, including the Tollman Award (2003) and the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Art (2006). He has served as Collections Curator at Constitution Hill. He has also taught Art History and Visual Culture at the Department of Fine Arts at Rhodes University.