Katharina Rohde

´89 Pupils View reflects on the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago. In a three days workshop more than 100 learners from the Linden High School in Johannesburg designed various bricks for „the Wall“, re- interpreted the Brandenburger Gate with African fabrics, questioned what was typical for East, and typical for West Germany, and demonstrated the re- united country. In collaboration with the South African Filmmaker Maciek Kwiecinski, some of the learners produced a Video Love Story between a woman in East Berlin, and a man in West Berlin, their despaired longing for one another, and the final unification after the Fall of the Wall.

´89 Pupils View is realized as part of the Project Cracking Walls by the Goethe Institute Johannesburg. Opening 28th Nov. 2009 at the Goethe Institute Johannesburg. Exhibition 29th Nov.- 4th Dec.

A boxing ring is installed on Polly Street, corner Bree Street in the Inner City of Johannesburg. Two street traders are play fighting with each other, equipped with Super Sized Boxing gloves, a whole boxers outfit, a ringmaster, the hot chick that announces the next round etc. The ring is made of elastic ribbons, its size gets smaller and smaller with each round. The winner of this play fight, gets the chance to box against the ultimate box champion— the BOX MAN!

With Lindy Scott & Joanna Voysey for the Art & Activism Workshop, as part  of the Pavement Economies/ THE HAPPY HAWKER project. Friendly supported by the Goethe Institute Johannesburg.

Street traders from various african nations play broken telephone in Johannesburg. The game starts with the sentence I want to buy metric paper (a product that street traders generally do not sell!). The sentence is passed on from one trader to the next, on its way the languages spoken change. The words that travel, and transform constantly are written down on the pavement in front of each trader´s stall. The game ends with the phrase street trading is a very hard business.

With Buhle Siwani for the Art & Activism Workshop, as part  of the Pavement Economies/ THE HAPPY HAWKER project. Friendly supported by the Goethe Institute Johannesburg.

In a one month interdisciplinary workshop 9 art students work in the streets of Downtown Johannesburg. In corporation with street traders different forms of action & intervention are developed that culminate in various performative moments. The various interventions comment on spatial regulations, developing marketing strategies for street trading, mapping their potentials, and constructing innovative objects for street trading.

the workshop on Art & Activism is part of the project Pavement Economies/ THE HAPPY HAWKER. With the friendly support of the Goethe Institute Johannesburg & the School of Arts of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

working & walking in the streets of Johannesburg´s inner city for some time now, i have quite often experienced people asking me  “how i feel”. my observations on my feelings while walking the streets of the inner city of johannesburg reflect a somewhat different perception of the streets than to what people would expect…

a sensory experiment
how do you feel walking in the streets of johannesburg´ s inner city? do you feel scared, happy, curious, anxious, relaxed…? do you feel different at every passing street corner? how do you feel about the smells that you encounter? how do you react to the various sounds, & their different levels of intensity? do you feel like running away? do you feel like wanting to stay?

9 art students are asked to do emotional mapping, while walking the streets of the inner city. what they observe, discover, experience is orchestrated in a 9 min performance reflecting upon their feelings.

9 students, 9 experiences, 9 minutes. PERFORMANCE: 3rd october 2009 at 15:00, Troye/ Pritchard Street.

is part of the project Pavement Economies/ THE HAPPY HAWKER. With the friendly support of the goethe institute johannesburg.

With the advent of the global economic recession at least a third of the billboards in Johannesburg are unused. Due to shrinking advertising budgets, the supply of billboards has outstripped demand. Some billboards have been left blank while others promote films that have been off circuit for months.

In a two days Billboard Art Workshop the idea was to interpret the empty space provided in opposition to its initial meaning. Taking the opportunity Lost Footage feat. Pavement Economies played with the idea of promoting urban issues of the City of Johannesburg that are not usually acknowledged and often not accessed by the public. 

In cooperation with machfeld, Marie Snauwaert & urbanworks

In a three days workshop with Fashion and Arts Students from Johannesburg, the idea was to design an Urban Warrior outfit that reflects the living and working situation of women in Downtown Johannesburg. For the Warrior outfit aprons have been deconstructed and reconnected, referring to the traders downtown, that use aprons in order to protect their bodies from getting dirty. But also looking back to the history of aprons, that are quite influential on symbolism of femininity.

with busiwe, carly, elias, eunis, funeka, jabulile, mokotgo, nokuthula, sameera, tinyiko

Urban Warrior is part of the Outreach Workshop of the Artist in Residency Programme of the Bag Factory.

Thanx 2  Sew Africa, The University of Johannesburg, The University of the Witwatersrand