Athi-Patra Ruga (South African, born 1984) Ilulwane as uNtsikana
Estimate (low-high) :
Provenance : Acquired from WhatiftheWorld Gallery, Cape Town, 'Teeth are the only bones that show', 2010',
A private collection.
Illustrated
Art Africa Magazine,
'Over the Rainbow: In conversation with Athi-Patra Ruga.', 2016.
The above work forms part of a series of homoerotic portraits of male figures, some fictional, later translated into physical performances. 'Ilulwane' is Xhosa for bat, but also functions as a taunt in relation to young men who have opted for a hospital circumcision over traditional ritual. Here Ilulwane is seeing himself as the visionary Xhosa prophet Ntsikana, a man that shaped Xhosa mythology. The artist later stated:
'God damn you if you are not from the bush! Then you are not a man, you are ilulwane'.
In 2011 Ruga participated in the fourth edition of Performa, a New York-based performance biennial, where he staged a synchronised-swimming performance exploring the complications of tradition and modernity embodied by the ambiguous insider-outside character of Ilulwane.
