Bodies, Buildings, and Borders: Navigating the Divided Nation through Contemporary South African and Palestinian Art Practice

This paper navigates the phenomenon of the divided nation through the work of contemporary South African artists Thando Mama, Sikhumbuzo Makandula, and Ndikhumbule Ngqinambi. I position the work of these artists practicing in a post-apartheid nation-state alongside the work of contemporary Palestinian artists Larissa Sansour and Khaled Jarrar, who respond to the ongoing struggle of the stateless Palestinian nation divided by colonialism and Israeli apartheid. Each of these artists critiques the construction of the modern nation-state using symbols such as the national flag, the national anthem, the passport and postage stamp, and physical walls and buildings. Underpinning this inquiry is the desire to imagine the parameters of a nation-state premised on the ideal of sharing space and time in the future: How can one alter existing national frameworks to create the conditions for coexistence and tolerance? What are the lessons we have learnt from past failure, and what would a desirable yet realistic future nation-state look like? Human beings are capable of learning from past mistakes and improving on old structures, methods, or systems in the future. Understanding the parts of a framework that have negative repercussions in one place can allow for an alteration of that framework to suit a different context with similar problems or histories.