1972

1972 is a 16-piece performance-based photographic work. The images present R. and A. living in Harare in 1972. At the time, interracial marriage was virtually impossible and there were political attempts to make it illegal. 1972 was also the beginning of a 7-year long guerrilla war between nationalists and the Rhodesian security forces.

Rachel Monosov and Admire Kamudzengerere created real-life events as happenings in Zimbabwe. They threw a wedding, inviting the local community to witness the event. They placed themselves into different spaces creating convincing settings: from leisurely afternoons by the lake, to constructing their first home. The work is documentary photography infused with fiction. It all happened, yet never was. 


The undocumented acts, reactions and effects, which lie beyond these photographs, are as much a part of the work as the images themselves. The happenings were entire “real-life” events. The artists did not stage a pose holding a goat for the camera. Instead, the image captured is a documentation of Kamudzengerere presenting Monosov with a dowry. The work is a merger between the artists’ lives and their art practice – to research the cultural boundaries and structures imposed upon them.

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After individual solo shows with CATINCA TABACARU New York, this is Admire Kamudzengerere’s and Rachel Monosov’s first exhibition with the Gallery as a duo. In addition to their individual practices, the two have been working in collaboration since 2015; completing several projects in Zimbabwe, New York, Brussels and Paris. In 2017, they presented their collaborative performance work, Transcultural Protocol, at the Zimbabwe Pavilion of the 57th Venice Biennale, and the 11th Edition of the Bamako Biennale.

CATINCA TABACARU GALLERY debuted 1972 at EXPO Chicago in September 2017. The work was awarded the Northern Trust Purchase Prize and the full First Edition was acquired by the Block Museum for its permanent collection. It was reviewed by the Chicago Tribune and The Observer. Part of the Second Edition was acquired in France by Foundation Blachère a month later. Currently, 1972 is showing at Site131 in Dallas (through March 24), and at the Center for Contemporary Art and Culture, PNCA in Portland (through April 14). 1972 will make its African debut at the Gallery’s satellite location, CTG Harare, in Zimbabwe, and at the Dakar Biennale in Senegal.

rachel-monosovadmire-kamudzengerere1972essay.pdf