Daily Maverick
Dailymaverick logo

South Africa

South Africa, DM168, Maverick News

Beauty and the scalpel — poet Khadija Heeger on the function of art

Beauty and the scalpel — poet Khadija Heeger on the function of art
Page 1. Front page DM168. 18 November 2023
Mick Raubenheimer
By Mick Raubenheimer
26 Nov 2023
Facebook
0
Poet, actress and cultural activist Khadija Heeger answers InArt’s questions about her creative life, although ‘the most important project I’m working on now is me’.

When did you first identify as an artist?


I know, according to family sources, that I was always performing. But I’d say at the age of nine this became a clearer thing. I can’t say exactly, though, because I don’t think it was an actually clear thought of “I am an artist”. At age nine, I’d say the awareness was more prevalent on some level.

Outside of your medium, what branch of art most stimulates you?


I love installation art, visual art, music, multimedia stuff. Recently, I’ve enjoyed digital editing. It’s a very stimulating way of arting, another level of the story.

Which artists in said disciplines have significantly inspired you, and why?


Tracey Emin, Terence Visagie, Jane Alexander, Nandipha Mntambo, Gabi Ngcobo, Igshaan Adams… so many artists.

What, to you, is art’s most important function?


To stimulate conversation. To remind us of beauty. To mediate the political and social landscape. To be a scalpel. To say the thing that needs saying. To rail against the inane, cruel establishment. To remind us of our fallibility. And again, to remind of beauty, love, compassion, mercy, grace. All these and more.

Khadija Heeger Khadija Heeger. (Photo: Jeremeo le Cordeur)


Who are the local creatives in any medium that currently excite you?


Igshaan Adams, because of how he tells stories with his tapestries. It’s like walking into a holographic image and virtual reality space created in tapestry. It has an incredible energy about it. It’s a beautiful sensory experience. And jazz pianist Nobuhle Ashanti doing exciting things in the world of jazz. Jazz can be such a glorified dick fest. That’s not to say the brothers aren’t good, but whether or not they’re chauvinists is another story.

What specific work, be it in literature, music or visual art, do you return to again and again, and why?


The novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery is a splendid piece of work. A Mouth Full of Blood and Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination, two essays by Toni Morrison.

Ausi told me: Why Cape Herstoriographies Matter by June Bam. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy.

Underground and Black Cat, White Cat by Bosnian-Serbian film director Emir Kusturica.

The sculpture Butcher Boys by Jane Alexander.

Nandipha Mntambo’s cowhide sculptures Vela Sikubekhile and Silence and Dreams, as well as the bronze Minotaurus. The artworks A Journey Inward and When the Dust Settles by Igshaan Adams. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: Everything and the kitchen sync — Maestro Mag’Oveni on his deep well of brainspiration

The soundscapes that musician Garth Erasmus creates. He simply improvises and it’s amazing because he knows how to get out of his own way. Look, there are many more. It happens as you grow older – eventually, you whittle that number down to the significant digits for you.

What are your thoughts about the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution?


I think that AI can be useful to us and not the other way round. I don’t think we should allow it to assimilate us or our art. I’m dead against that. One cannot programme spontaneity into a machine.

I think humans have proven that we have a tendency to shoot ourselves in the foot with our “cleverness”. It never ends well.

Read more in Daily Maverick: ‘Like music to my eyes’ — the art and inspiration of guitarist Anton L’Amour

Bomb disposal, go­­ing down mine shafts to investigate, analysing soil samples for contaminants, statistics perhaps... I’m sure there are myriad uses that will benefit the survival of our planet and other species, and thus ourselves. But we need to tread very carefully with how we use our latest toy. Look what happened with the atomic bomb.

Khadija's latest volume of poetry. (Photo: Supplied)


Any project you’re unveiling or wrapping up?


My television acting work has yielded something I am excited about, but can’t talk about for now.

I’m moving on to another poetry collection that I just started recently, as well as putting some already written work together and then writing some more as things move me. However, I’m the most important project I’m working on at the moment. I’m in need of my own wisdom and care right now. DM

Mick Raubenheimer is a freelance arts writer.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.

Page 1. Front page DM168. 18 November 2023

Categories:

Tags: