Paper short abstract:

The paper discusses selected examples of urban-based artists who reflect a relationship with the rural in personal, historical and aesthetic terms. Covering different genres, the analysis determines four main aspects that seem to typically shape the artists’ negotiation of the urban-rural link.

Paper long abstract:

Urban-based artists relate in varied ways to rural backgrounds, experiences, relationships and research interests. This presentation discusses selected examples from South Africa, Uganda and Cameroon in which urban-based artists reflect and practice a relationship with the rural in both, personal and aesthetic terms. Covering a broad range of genres, including photography, painting, community art, and performance, the analysis takes four main aspects into account that shape the artworks in the negotiation of the urban-rural link in contemporary aesthetic practice: Firstly, the relationship of the urban and rural is mostly perceived as a geographical/topographical separation. Secondly, while the city stands for professional networks, rural areas represent the home of family, clan and ancestry. Thirdly, both areas are reflected as two different cultural spaces that however are interlinked in a complex way. Lastly, the spatial polarity often implies temporality, not only in terms of the popular 'traditional/modern' tropes, but also in terms of historical change, for instance with regard to migration histories, family stories, and aesthetic traditions.

It is obvious that these four characteristics by no means are the only ones, and at times empirical findings may even prove them wrong. However, I propose them as a framing device in this introductory paper that offers a reference in the discussion, for comparisons, and in the search for different and novel approaches to the relationship of the urban and rural in contemporary social and artistic practice.