The Freedom To Dream

posted by Ismail Farouk at Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Recently I was invited by Zayd Minty, who is a cultural practitioner from Cape Town, to respond to his research paper, 'The Freedom to Dream, Urban Transformations through cultural practices in Douala,' at an event hosted at the Johannesburg Art Gallery.

Doual'art is a non-profit cultural organisation based in Cameroon. The organisation is responsible for a highly sophisticated art making process which aims to provide basic urban infrastructure through creative practices. One of Doual'arts projects is the implementation of a water pump on an open expanse of land in a neighborhood called Bessengue. Beyond serving its primary function, the water pump serves as a location for important social interaction.

Read Zayd Minty's full text here: Freedom2dream.doc

In responding to Zayd's research and the approach and success of Douala' arts, I thought it would be most beneficial to further an understanding of development issues by applying his primary research question to the context of Johannesburg:

Do cultural practices have the capacity to engage society for positive urban transformation by engaging citizens in public space?

Yes, I believe that they do, however, culture as interpreted by mainstream development seems to promote unevenness.

Driven by the inner city regeneration strategy, and the imperative to attract new investment, Joburg’s plan is to address urban blight and other socio-political problems such as unregulated street trade and the overcrowding of buildings by representing business interests through the prioritising of Business Improvement Districts (BIDS).

The primary objective of most BIDS is to implement a wide range of services to support the perception of cleanliness and safety. BIDS concentrate power for the property owners who benefit as a result is the surge in property prices in the area. However, this has no benefit to the poorer residents on the sidewalks who are engaged in 'criminalised' informal economic activity. BIDS result in the end of a livelihood for poor people.

There are two major ways in which culture is misused within the BID environment in Johannesburg. First, culture is used to as a place making device, where spaces are branded and identities are imposed. Here, culture is used as a means of privatising management for the primary purpose of attracting new investment opportunities. Secondly, culture is mis-used by an unimaginative city administration, who commission public art with a narrow view of producing physical structures which compliment the ideals of area development. The problem is that these ideals seems to contradict the needs of poorer communities.

The corollary to the misuse of culture in urban development is the use of culture to further spatial justice issues. Spatial justice is the study of how resources such as money, access to economic opportunities, educational facilities or health care are distributed in urban space. Resources are not distributed evenly and so the battle for spatial justice is primarily about looking to see what can be done to meet more equitable ends.

There are not too many art projects in Johannesburg which represent the needs of the most marginal sectors of society. One project in particular which stands out in recent history is the Cascoland Motor Mechanic Street Bench Project. The benches were constructed for immigrant motor mechanics, who derive their livelihood by providing motor related services to taxis and private motor vehicles on the sidewalk. This economic activity is in direct contravention of the city by-laws. For most immigrants, harassment by the police is a constant fear, which has led to the criminalizing of activities and a sense of non-belonging.

Listen to an interview with a Mozambican motor mechanic here.

In response to the situation, artists Jair Straschnow & Bert Kramer constructed seating, working and tool lock up facilities all built into a fence, a physical barrier meant to keep people out. The artists did not obtain permission to produce the work in public space so they designed the benches so that they slide in and out of the fence. The importance of the project cannot be overstated as the fence provides a space for social networks to operate from.

The project represents a positive case study of much needed urban infrastructure developed by a culture programme. As such, the benches provide some sort of agency in a world otherwise characterised by alienation and social exclusion.

Labels: immigrants, Johannesburg, social capital, social justice, social networks, spatial justice, urban research