USING ART TO BLUR DIVISIONS BETWEEN
TIME & SPACE
BY
CHIDO
JOHSON
@ HUMA
LIVING BETWEEN CULTURES, the United States & Zimbabwe has led Chido Johnson’s work to persistently seek cultural spaces identified as “other” or “different” to find physical or narrative performances in order to transform & negotiate a new sense of self, place and belonging.
This presentation explores the artist’s work connecting Detroit & Zimbabwe using art production & research to form connective tissues. The Wire-car Auto Workers Association of Detroit (WAWAD), conducts workshops in wire-car making in Detroit, connecting an African childhood vernacular practice with the cultural practices of the US ‘motor city.’ Performing as consulates, the Zimbabwe Culture Centre of Detroit (ZCCD), connects practitioners between the two locations, identifying commonalities in areas such as dance & music - in the ‘Jit Exchange’ or ‘Motown in Zimbabwe’ for example. What are the links between Motown & African liberation? A Puppet Project connects across both time & space, recovering & continuing a project initiated by the artists’ parents (Chido & his collaborator Shepherd Ndudzo) in the 1960s. All three projects explore connections between continental Africa & its diaspora, using artistic practice as research tool and communication.
This presentation explores the artist’s work connecting Detroit & Zimbabwe using art production & research to form connective tissues. The Wire-car Auto Workers Association of Detroit (WAWAD), conducts workshops in wire-car making in Detroit, connecting an African childhood vernacular practice with the cultural practices of the US ‘motor city.’ Performing as consulates, the Zimbabwe Culture Centre of Detroit (ZCCD), connects practitioners between the two locations, identifying commonalities in areas such as dance & music - in the ‘Jit Exchange’ or ‘Motown in Zimbabwe’ for example. What are the links between Motown & African liberation? A Puppet Project connects across both time & space, recovering & continuing a project initiated by the artists’ parents (Chido & his collaborator Shepherd Ndudzo) in the 1960s. All three projects explore connections between continental Africa & its diaspora, using artistic practice as research tool and communication.
WAWAD
VID O1
A DANCE FOR SAN DIEGO IS a documentation of a wire car cruise performed in the home of the svambarare (Shona for long car) – Detroit. This transformed into an organization now called the Wire-car Auto Workers Association of Detroit (WAWAD).
VID O2
WAWAD COMMERCIAL
ZCCD
JIT EXCHANGE
MORE INFORMATION ON THE EXCHANGE HERE.
VID O1
CALL & RESPONSE
by Haleem Rahul aka Stringz (Detroit) & Franco Dhaka aka Slomo (Zimbabwe)
Stringz dances Detroit style "jit" with Slomo's music while Slomo dances Zimbabwe style jit to Stringz's music. Both Detroit and Zimbabwe have a history of "jit" starting from the 70s and becoming popular in the 80s unrelated. Video filmed by Kumbulani Zamuchiya, Chido Johnson and edited by Dyani Douze.
VID O2
MOTOWN IN ZIMBABWE
a conversation between two musicologists: Marsha Music from Detroit Joyce Jenje Makwenda from Harare (Zimbabwe) who was the ZCCD Research Resident of 2017. he short 12 min documentary was filmed by Benjamin Gaydos and edited by Julia Yezbick.
CHIDO JOHNSON is a Detroit artist, 2009 Kresge Fellow, & currently the section chair of Sculpture at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan.
He was born & raised in Zimbabwe and Zambia, then moved to the USA in his adulthood. Both his BFA degrees in Sculpture in 1996 & in Painting with a minor in Drawing in 1997 were from the University of Georgia, Athens. Chido obtained his MFA Sculpture degree from the University of Notre Dame in 2000. He is the founder of the Wire-car Auto Workers Association of Detroit & a co-founder of the Zimbabwe Cultural Centre of Detroit. He has worked, exhibited & taught both nationally as well as internationally. He can be seen on a nice summer day pushing his 1967 pink wire-car Cadillac in the neighborhoods of Detroit.
