Bound in Silence

When light passes from air through water, it refracts causing distortions of features and creating a languid, dreamlike quality. Photography becomes a tool for me to explore this ethereal world that is reminiscent of the womb. All human life begins surrounded by liquid. When we emerge from the womb, we take our first breath and when we die, we surrender our breath. Water was used to transport slaves and also a means of escape and release. Those who were in bondage set themselves free into the sea, giving up the breath of life and with it, the sadness and anguish of their enslavement; the longing for their homes and long lost loved ones.

For centuries, slaves were brought to the shores of the Cape of Good Hope from Mozambique, Madagascar, India and the Indonesian archipelago. They were part of the cargo that was traded along with porcelain, silks and spices from 1652 to 1838. Some slaves threw themselves overboard in order to escape the pain and suffering of their bondage while others were thrown into the ocean when they became ill. In exploring the theme of slavery and how much of its history still haunts our lives in South Africa, water was used as the element that transported the slaves to our shores and carried them away from their homes and their lives there.

This narrative was the basis for Jazzart Dance Theatre and Magnet Theatre's collaborative production, Cargo and their artists: Samanthea Fortuin, Vathiswa Nodlayiya were part of this water exploration.