Lerato Shadi

Sugar and Salt, 2014

South African artist Lerato Shadi often places her own physical experiences at the center of her practice. From a post-colonial feminist perspective, she focuses on power constellations, the perception of time, mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion. The situation is as humorous as it is intimate: two generations licking sugar and then salt from each other’s tongues. The very intimate touch and the embarrassed and amused laughter, the overcoming, the reactions to the strong taste impressions, the privacy and yet publicity of the video create a space of vulnerability in which strength manifests itself through the courage to dare this experiment. The complex relationship between mother and daughter, the experiences of women from two different generations, love and conflicts are translated into a sensual picture.