Senzeni Marasela

In this body of work, Marasela (Theodorah) marks out the sites of her search for her husband Gebane using loose, hanging threads, which symbolise the slag heaps of Johannesburg's decommissioned mines. Their failing slopes fill the air with toxic dust. The title of this series alludes to the failure of the mining industry to provide economic prosperity for its workers and their families.

Red wool represents the seasonal marker of red dust and the red soil of the mine dumps around Johannesburg. Marasela's fabric topographies are created on ityali: wool blankets which are traditionally worn as shawls by Xhosa wives. The weight of the blankets on the body reflects the burden carried by wives who have lost their husbands through the apartheid labour system and its forced urban migration.