FAKA is a local art duo working through performance art, as an archival project documenting the experiences of young black queer creatives locally. We got to know them better.
FAKA is…
Thato Ramaisa, a young queer man from Katlehong who is exploring his limitless identity and those of whom he feels share the same life experiences – through photography, performance art and documentation. Fela Gucci is the “character” through which he narrates these expressions. Desire Marea describes himself as a ‘post-gospel philosopher’ who in the process uses his body as a way to confront contradicting truths. Through performance he seeks to conceive a different, more inclusive reality.
Our work is…
A reflection of our complex black experiences. The themes we explore are mostly focused on the politics of our bodies because our bodies are a way of confronting the root of our displacement in the world. Our queer identity is an irrevocable layer of our blackness that we cannot ignore either, because it has pushed us further away from being accepted into most parts of society. Hence we have had to re-imagine equally radical ways of existing truthfully.
We are responsible for …
Telling our truth and the stories of the people who share similar life experiences, in spaces where there is a lack of a wider representation for this kind of narrative and existence.
We are inspired by…
Simon Nkoli, K Sello Duiker, Zanele Muholi, Sabelo Mlangeni and Somizi Mhlongo who have all armed us with the resilience of fighting for our place in the world. We also truly admire Somalian queer writer Diriye Osman, for the honest and humanizing way in which he expresses the existence and survival of the queer African person.
We are inviting the world…
..into the creation of the new realities and identities that we feel deserve not only to exist but to be embraced. The medium, therefore, will forever be centred on the representation of our bodies, whether we are creating a valid virtual projection of truth on digital platforms, through imagery, words, or confronting our audience with a raging becoming of humanity in its truest form. It is all performance and it’s all real.
Gender fluidity…
There is no absolute gender. We are living through an interesting time within the infinite spectrum of its expression and it’s something we will always explore because it will always change.
Follow FAKA :
Twitter : @FelaGuci @DesireMarea
Instagram : @felagucci @desiremarea
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