MACHFELD artists exploring Binga - Hillbrow connection

Details
Created: Sunday, 23 November 2008 16:22


The Tonga.Online project has become a reference point for Austrian (and South African) media artists again. The Austrian artists duo MACHFELD will start an artist in residency in Johannesburg / South Africa soon and explore the Binga - Hillbrow connection, the routes and linkages which exist between rural Binga area in Zimbabwe and the notorious suburb of Hillbrow / Johannesburg which is hosting various migrant communities, i.e. from Zimbabwe. Therefore MACHFELD will visit Binga and the Tonga.Online / MULONGA.net project in early 2009 to start with their action research.


The Austrian artists duo MACHFELD (Michael Mastrototaro & Sabine Maier) was founded 1999 in Vienna. Based on the identically named cyber-novel, they developed an art-label with the focal points: web-art, short- and experimental films, streaming-projects, interactive installations as well as works for the public space. They did projects, exhibitions and installations / screenings in South Africa, across Europe, Central-America and in the USA. Since 2004 MACHFELD runs an interdisciplinary Medialab in Vienna. They use analogue and digital technology in a fragmented but complementary way in order to reflect on the usefulness and relevance of such tools for documenting different modes of human interaction and communication.

In 2007 they have started to collaborate with The Trinity Session in Johannesburg run by Marcus Neustetter & Stephan Hobbs and The Premises gallery the two are creatively managing and curating. The independent artists’ lab The Trinity Session is a multipurpose contemporary art space that is hosting much more than exhibitions. On 13th April last year MACHFELD have presented the outcome of their collaboration with The Trinity Session and a host of local art students there, see more: http://www.machfeld.net/projects/VED_VS_JOBURG/index.html

Only recently MACHFELD have been invited for an artist in residence program in Johannesburg / South Africa at the BAGFACTORY which will last from January - March 2009: www.bagfactoryart.org.za

The core project of this residency will be to explore the Binga - Hillbrow connection, the routes and linkages which exist between rural Binga area in Zimbabwe and the notorious suburb of Hillbrow / Johannesburg which is hosting various migrant communities, i.e. from Zimbabwe.
Therefore MACHFELD will visit Binga and the Tonga.Online / MULONGA.net project in early 2009 to start with their action research.

Later on the artists will also attend Parade in May 2009 in Linz / Austria to cover and document the event and especially the performance of a joint ensemble of Tonga musicians (from Zimbabwe and Zambia) there.

Last week MACHFELD received the "Promotion Award for Video and Media Art 2008" sponsored by the Austrian Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture, whereby special consideration was attributed to their artistic endeavours in cultural exchange with projects and artists in Southern Africa.

more soon on: http://www.machfeld.net/index.html