Nelisiwe Xaba and Mocke J Van Veuren have been awarded the 2013 FNB Art Prize for their video collaboration Uncles & Angels. The prize is awarded annually within the framework of the FNB Joburg Art Fair, and includes a cash prize and a dedicated space at the fair in September, where a new incarnation of the work will be shown.

Uncles & Angels is a collaborative dance and film project created by Nelisiwe Xaba and Mocke J van Veuren. Originally produced as a stage performance, the stereoscopic film employs a minimal, constrained aesthetic within a box-like spatial frame to metaphorically elaborate on conceptions of feminine purity and virginity under patriarchy.

The film uses interactive, live projected video elements to play on different levels with singular/multiple bodies, repetition, mimicry and power relations between ‘real’ three-dimensional and flattened, projected ‘ghost’ bodies. The use of technology in the form of video cameras, projectors and projection screens is explored productively as a contested, problematic interaction, and the tensions between live body and technological intervention parallels the exploration of themes of sexual control and patriarchal tradition.

Previous winners are Cedric Nunn (2011) and Kudzanai Chiurai (2012).

www.fnbjoburgartfair.co.za