A 2-minute intervention inside Cape Town's disused Oriental Plaza, an Apartheid-era shopping mall designed to control Cape Malay trade. On the 4th day of Ramadan, 2008, Sheikh Mogamat Moerat of District Six's Zeenatul Islam Majid mosque was invited to sing the Adhan (call to prayer) inside the empty remains of the building a few weeks prior to its demolition to make way for luxury apartments.
A film by James Webb
South Africa / France, 2009, Art film, 3 min, video, color, sound.
Le Marché Oriental from James Webb on Vimeo.
Project specifications:
Materials: video, audio
Dimensions: Variable
Duration: 03:00
Date: 2008/9
Video credits:
Direction: James Webb
Camera: Norman Servais
Sound recording: James Webb & Vanessa De Michelis
Video editing: Matthew Kalil
Sound editing: James Webb
Colourist: Craig Parker (at HD HUB, Cape Town)
The artwork is exhibited as a wall-sized video projection with immersive sound.
The audio in the video was recorded in one take, and was not spatially enhanced in post-production. The reverberation you hear on the voice is the acoustic of the building, an acoustic that now no longer exists.
Webb's essay, "Activating and Amplifying," covering this work, was published in "Site of Sound: Of Architecture and the Ear Vol. 2," edited by Brandon LaBelle & Claudia Martinho, Errant Bodies press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-9827439-0-4
Le Marché Oriental was commissioned for "Jozi & The (M)Other City Project" curated by Carine Zaayman in August 2008. The work has been exhibited on "This Is Now, 2" curated by Cécile Bourne Farrell at L'appartement 22, Rabat in January 2009. The film won 2nd place in the Documentary Filmmaker's Association "My Town" competition at the 2009 Encounters Film Festival.
Le Marché Oriental was exhibited on the artist's solo show, "One day, all of this will be yours," at Blank Projects in 2010. Blank Projects is situated in the same road as the former Oriental Plaza, a few blocks away.
The artwork has been presented on the following shows:
- La Quinzaine de la Vidéo, Galerie Imane Farès, Paris, France. February-March 2019perso
- Nous نحن, Galerie Imane Farès, Paris, France. January 2015. Two person show (Ninar Esber / James Webb).
- New Biennale of Art and Architecture, The Cube (in association with the Botkyrka Konsthall), Fittja, Stockholm, Sweden. September 2014. Group show curated by Joanna Sandell.
- The Pavilion of Fittja, Serra de Giardini, Venice. June 2014. Group show curated by Joanna Sandell.
- MMXII, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa. July 2012. Solo show.
- One day, all of this will be yours, blank projects, Cape Town, South Africa. January 2010. Solo show.
- This Is Now 2, L'appartement22, Rabat, Morocco. 2009. Group show curated by Cécile Bourne Farrell.
- Jozi & the (M)other City, Michaelis Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa. September 2008. Group show curated by Carine Zaayman.
Courtesy blank projects, Cape Town (blankprojects.com) and Galerie Imane Farès, Paris (imanefares.com).
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