Mamela Nyamza was invited by the Festival Theater der Welt 2021 in Dusseldorf, Germany, to collaborate on a performance arts project called “Dramaturgy for a Conference”, a concept originated by the Argentine Artist, Matias Umpierrez. As one of the four artists chosen from the four continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, and Americas), Mamela – from South Africa – has based this work on the Project’s main objective of “reflecting on the contemporary narratives and on those dramaturgical structures that could be behind the political discourses of the time – an exercise that proposes a conference/dialogue/speech and a performance between a contemporary thinker/activist/artist and artists/audience”.
Playing on double meanings of the word, Nyamza’s GROUNDED offers both up simultaneously. Positively, grounded can mean, stability, reliability, a moral compass and self-esteem. Negatively, grounded can mean, punishment, confinement, and segregation/apartness. In this work, performed with her son Amkele Mandla, Nyamza offers us a look into her South Africa where democracy superficially seems to be in a working condition, but actually has small cracks not easy to see. Nyamza looks at these cracks and asks where and when they started – how far back in history do we go?