The work is based on a South African trial from 1940 in which Mafavuke Ngcobo, a traditional herbalist, was accused by the local white medical establishment of untraditional behaviour. He was accused of practicing medicine without a licence in the apartheid context in which Black South Africans were not permitted to attend medical schools. The flm explores the ideological and commercial confrontation between two di ferent yet intertwining medicinal traditions and their uses of plants, with slippages across gender and race, further questioning notions of purity and origination. The reimagined court case is flmed at the Palace of Justice in Pretoria, where the Rivonia trial took place from 1963 to 1964, resulting in Nelson Mandela and other antiapartheid leaders being sent to Robben Island prison.
The artist’s participation is made possible with support from Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.
Designed & Developed by: Curves n' Colors | Visual identity by: Wkshps
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