Spier Light Art
Artists Bio
The collective comprises four architects, artists, makers, and researchers exploring the spatial impacts of history, socio-politics, and femme identities. Their work is driven by themes of joy, playfulness, and intimacy, expressed through interdisciplinary and process-based approaches. Zakiyyah Haffejee investigates gender, identity, and spirituality, focusing on rituals and uncovering meaning through history, language, and religion. Mmakhotso Lamola delves into emotional landscapes and creates softer narratives about urban space through vulnerable research and storytelling. Zahraa Essa examines human resilience and material cultures, exploring how hybrid identities emerge in transforming urban landscapes. TK Mbadi combines modular furniture design, Japanese woodwork, and playful aesthetics, crafting imaginative connections between miniature and grand scales. Together, they forge new ways of thinking about space, identity, and storytelling.
Artist Statement
Come Dance with Us honours invisible histories of women and labour. Ethereal, billowing figures invite audiences to dance with hidden histories revealed through sound, light, and movement. We collectively think through those who worked the land and honour them through the soft and playful approach of dance.
Come Dance with Us engages the invisible and endeavours to presence women, labour and radical joy. Towering figures made from lightweight, semi-transparent fabric billow and dance, inviting audiences to engage with fragments of hidden histories embedded within their ethereal forms.
As viewers step into the space, they are welcomed not merely as spectators but as participants. The figures’ graceful movements mirror an invitation to join the dance, bridging the gap between observer and performer. The installation becomes a dialogue; each interaction weaves personal and collective memories into the narrative, creating a shared experience of discovery and connection. The glowing warmth of the figures, illuminated in sunset hues, envelops participants, inspiring reflection and joy. This interplay of light, sound, and movement transforms the space into a living memorial, celebrating resilience, memory, and the transformative power of collective joy.
The Spier Wine Farm anchors the work in its historical and spatial context, honouring those who worked the land. The juxtaposition of the figures’ weightless appearance and the weight of the histories they represent creates a poignant contrast, transforming remembrance into a soft yet powerful act of radical joy.
Through its immersive and playful nature, Come Dance with Us becomes a living memorial. It celebrates the beauty of shared histories, offerring a space where the weight of the past and the lightness of collective movement coexist.
Spier Light Art returns to Spier Wine Farm from 21 March to 21 April 2025
(Press Release)