English Learning Community and Resources

Barcelona Cosplayers Photographed by Nontsikelelo Veleko

 

 

Today, we’re talking with Nontsikelelo Veleko, a South African artist and photographer who now lives in France. She has a photography exhibition opening tomorrow (8 September 2023) in Barcelona, Spain. The exhibition is based on the residency she did there with the invitation of The Over Gallery. Her exhibition explores the lives of Cosplayers in Barcelona.

Our conversation explores not only her exhibition – and why you should absolutely go to the opening on the from 19h to 22h – but also, how being multilingual has helped in her personal and professional life.

As you read and listen to the excerpts from our conversation, I hope you will find a few gems that inspire you in your own practice of English as well as your own creative expressions.

QUICK DETAILS TO KNOW BEFORE READING THE INTERVIEW:

What: Nontsikelelo has generously invited YOU, our English Community, to go talk with her on opening night, the 8^th of September 2023 at 19h. Ask questions, be curious, and explore her art. Perhaps you are a cosplayer and have some insights you’d like to share, too. There will be a DJ and food, so go and enjoy yourselves!

Where: The Over Gallery; Carrer de Sant Pere Màrtir 3, Barcelona, Spain.

Now, let’s dive into the interview, friends.

THE INTERVIEW

Iya: Thank you for agreeing to our interview which will be published on the EU Academy’s OLS platform. We have a lot of mobility participants who come from different parts of the world, including different parts of Europe. Could you tell us a little bit about your background? What was your life like in South Africa?

Nontsikelelo: Thank you for having me. Living in South Africa, in Johannesburg before I came to France, I was working as a photography teacher as well as practicing my photography by showcasing my work in galleries and museums. I was introducing photography to people who would never have or who could never afford to buy a camera or who didn’t live in big cities and therefore, they don't have access to all of that. It was especially the women [I worked with], so I was empowering women to take on photography. It was quite exciting to be in South Africa because of those projects that we could be able to do those things and be able to travel around the country.  

Iya: Tell us a bit about traveling in South Africa and communicating with people about photography.

Nontsikelelo: It was easy because in South Africa we were colonized by the English, so we speak English and it is the main language for tutoring. We have 11 official languages in South Africa, and I speak five. So, it also helped to be able to speak different languages when I travelled to different provinces. 

Iya: What are the five languages you speak?

Nontsikelelo: English, Xhosa, Zulu, Sutu, Setswana, and a little bit of Afrikaans.  

Iya: OK.. So how long were you doing this type of photography and your projects in South Africa?

Nontsikelelo: I studied photography in 2000 until 2003 and I started practicing right away in 2003 until now.

Iya: And what about the project where you were working with women or when you were introducing photography to people who didn’t have access to it?

Nontsikelelo: Yeah, that's when I was just starting as well. So, I was studying and working at the same time. And I did that between 2002 to 2007.

Iya: During that time, while you were studying but also doing your work in South Africa, did you travel to other countries? Did you have periods where you would go abroad and then come back to South Africa? Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Nontsikelelo: Yes, in 2003, for the first time, I got invited to go to Switzerland, to Basel, Switzerland, for three months. So, that was the first time I was even on a plane and the first time I ever got out of the country and I didn't speak the language. So, you can imagine I was excited, I didn't mind, but when I got there, the problem was the language. But because of Afrikaans, it helped because Afrikaans is like a Dutch dialect, so it's very close to Swiss German. So, when people spoke in Swiss German, I could understand but I couldn't reply. 

And then I visited Zimbabwe. I went to Mali. Then I went all over the world. I went to Sweden, Finland, Japan. England. I didn't go to the US. I regret not going to the US, but it was a tie between having to choose between Japan and the US and I chose Japan because I've always been crazy about Japan.

So, when I was traveling, it was through my work, my photography. I was invited through my work to come and showcase my photography.

Iya: So, when you're invited to showcase your photography, does that mean having exhibitions or doing residencies?

Nontsikelelo: For instance, with the Swiss one, it was a residency so I had to go and learn. It was a time when digital photography was being introduced to Africa and so I had to come and learn how they do it over here and be able to transfer those skills in South Africa. Photoshop [was a new technology] as well. So, I had to learn all those skills whereas with Japan, it was just an exhibition. I was invited to come and exhibit my work and be there as an artist to present.

Iya: Can you tell us what exactly is a residency?

Nontsikelelo: OK, a residency is a space they provide for you to be able to produce new work. You get to have accommodation paid for, you get to have your food paid for and all you do is produce new work. Or you can continue with your old work and be able to produce it further in that space. So, it's a commission, if you can say. 

Iya: Thank you for telling us what a residency is. That's a nice segue to talking about your recent residency in Barcelona. Can you tell us about that? How long was it? What was the invitation for? What did you do?

Nontsikelelo: OK, so I was invited to Barcelona. I met this woman in Paris while I was having an exhibition and she happens to own a gallery in Barcelona as well as a hotel. She houses artists at the hotel and then she exhibits their work at her gallery. And so, I met her and she was like, “Would you like to come and show your work in Barcelona?” And I was like, “Yes, of course.” And she was like, “I would love to see new work if you don't mind because I've seen this [artwork of yours in Paris.] And I was like, “Actually, I'm working on something at the moment. So, I would love to pursue that further.”

The work that I was pursuing was a theme on cosplayers. A lot of people don't know cosplayers what it is, but it’s a play of words from “costume” and “play.”

I was invited [to Barcelona] for three weeks. And I had to be able to produce [new work] within three weeks. This was the first residency which was too fast for me to be able to produce work, and we had to kind of like liaise with a few people over there to find out where cosplayers hang out [in order to] get to speak to them before asking them if they agree to be part of the project. Because that's how I work, even in my work in South Africa, I would ask the people that I photograph if they would like to be part of the project and I would explain the project to them and invite them as well afterward to come and see themselves at the gallery spaces or the museums.

I call them my “collaborators” instead of just my “subjects.” So yeah, that's what I did in Barcelona.

Iya: Can you tell us why it's important to you that you consider them to be your collaborators?

Nontsikelelo: Because the word “subject” was often used by colonizers to say, “Well, these are my subjects,” as if they own the people. And I don't feel like I own the people, I feel like they own themselves and they actually are dressing up and becoming the way they are. I find them like that. So what I add on to that is the photography. To make it visible and to be able to save it for future generations to see.

So for me it doesn't sound right when I say “my subjects,” but it sounds reasonable to say “my collaborators” because also they agreed to be part of the project. Which is very much important for me.

Iya:  Tell us more about your cosplayer collaborators and what you’ve learned through your conversations.

Nontsikelelo: They want to be empowered in a way that makes sense for them. For instance, if they take an anime character and say that they are powerful, they have special powers about them. Yeah. So they take on a character to be able to empower themselves. And I think this is also something that's important that people can do. So when they empower themselves and they're taking on a character, it's not necessarily their personality, but they're adding to that.

Listen to Nontsikelelo talk about the importance of speaking the regional languages when visiting a country:

AUDIO #12 FROM 3:00-4:52 TOTAL 1m52s

Iya: What kind of conversations did you have with your cosplayer collaborators?

Nontsikelelo: I would ask them why they're doing cosplaying and how long have they been doing it and what do their parents and their friends and families say about this. And some of them would tell me great stories that they were sometimes shy at some point. But ever since they took on cosplaying, it gives them so much confidence to be able to discuss their creativity through that because some of them, make their own costumes. Which is something that I really, really love and admire.

Because that is a skill no one can take it away from you, you know, in a world where everything is consumed. We are consumers. We just buy and buy and buy and buy, whereas they buy, but they make their own costumes. So, I was impressed by this and some of them have been doing it for 10 years and I mean that's impressive to do something for that long. That means we are really committed and some of them, one that I met recently, she just lost her job and with the money that she got from her last job, she decided to do a cosplaying costume. That's the one shown in the exhibition invite with the blue hair.

So I see a lot of commitment to this and I find it very impressive. And also they are well read, you know, they read a lot, which is also quite interesting. They read a lot of manga stories. But also they read in general a lot of books. And yeah, and I like that.

Iya: When you say they have a commitment to this lifestyle, what do you mean? Because I don't know much about the cosplaying world. Did you go to a conference? Was there an event?

Nontsikelelo: Yeah, so it was an event. It was called Manga Barcelona. So they were selling manga books and manga characters and everything. And of course, players were invited. And I think cosplayers sometimes hold their own parties where they teach each other the skills that they have on how to make things, and they discuss if the costumes are good or bad or what should they do. Makeup. Hair

So there's a community of that, except that it's hard to find them when you're looking in three weeks' time. Like with my other projects, it takes time to actually find people. And when you do find people, for those people to say yes to your project. So they are there. But, and I met some from Finland who came all the way to Barcelona to participate. Some from France as well. They drove from Marseille to Barcelona.

Iya: Wow! That’s a commitment! Alright, let’s make sure our OLS community members in Barcelona know how to see you tomorrow.

Now let’s listen to this really fun part of the interview as we wrap up the conversation and speak about whether there will be food and music at the exhibition. You’ll also hear why Nontsikelelo thinks it’s important to meet locals and participate in local events when you move to another country.

Enjoy a short excerpt from our conversation:

 

  

 

Wow! Wasn't that a fun conversation?!

And that concludes our interview! Thanks for taking this journey with us to discover the art of Ms. Veleko, the importance of learning languages, and exploring other cultures. I hope you enjoyed our conversation!

Learn more about this fascinating artist and her work on her page and on the Over Gallery’s page, then join the conversation here.

 

All photography and audio are published with permission of the artist.

All rights reserved.

 

 

 

Nontsikelelo Veleko, Photographer