The CASSPIR Project
The Casspir Project: A Multidisciplinary Artwork by Ralph Ziman
The Casspir Project is an unprecedented and multifaceted undertaking from South African film director, Ralph Ziman. The work comprises installation, photography, oral history, and documentary. It made its debut at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town in December 2016, as part of the exhibition, Women’s Work: crafting stories, subverting narratives – an exploration of the historically gendered creative practices used by contemporary artists in South Africa.
Since it’s debut SPOEK 1 has traveled throughout South Africa, stopping at The Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg (July 2017); Everard Read Gallery — Keys Art Mile, Johannesburg (July 2017); and The Melrose Gallery, Johannesburg (September 2017).
The vehicle arrived in the United States in May 2019 and was part of Special Projects at the fourth edition of 1-54 New York, and was on view at Pioneer Works, New York through the summer. It was then showcased at the PULSE Art Fair in Miami Beach (December 2019). Its most recent exhibition was at the San Francisco Tribal & Textile Art Show (February 2020). This was the first time the Casspir was presented in Northern California.
Marco Gruelle of DTGruelle and his team have proudly assisted with the vehicle transport to each location safely for display.
The Casspir Project charts the locus of the South African military vehicle’s legacy of institutional oppression — a legacy with which we are still reckoning. The central element of the project is one of reclamation. The restored and refitted Casspir vehicle, its surfaces fully covered in elaborate, brightly-colored panels of glass beadwork, arrayed in traditional patterns was completed by artisans from Zimbabwe and the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, including women of the Ndebele tribe, known for their craftsmanship.
The Casspir Project represents the first comprehensive consideration of apartheid-era South Africa seen through the lens of the Casspir instrument. Casspir is an anagram of the acronyms SAP (South African Police) and CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research). Designed in South Africa in the late 1970s and brought into service in the early 80s, the Casspir was used extensively by the Apartheid-era South African Police, as well as by the South African Defense Force. Bulletproof and mine resistant, the Casspir was a military vehicle, extensively used in urban, township areas in South Africa against civilian populations. By the mid 1980s, the Casspir was the ubiquitous heavy hand of apartheid oppression in South African townships – its mere presence a form of terror.
Meet the Artists
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Creative Director
Ralph Ziman is a South African film director and interdisciplinary artist motivated by a sense of social responsibility toward global politics showcased in his multifaceted works of art featuring various media ranging from South African military vehicles to aircrafts adorned with traditional African beading.
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Traditional Beading Artist
Thenjiwe Chinedo comes from the Ndebele Tribe of Mpumalanga Province in South Africa. The Ndebele Tribe are world renowned for their extremely meticulous needle point bead work. She has a life long passion for the beading traditions handed down by her mother and grandmother. Thenjiwe is the founder of Annointed Hands, a collective of like-minded and highly skilled women devoted to the art of fine bead work. She and her team of women work alongside Ralph to produce artworks featuring stunning and elaborate traditional African beading.
Thenjiwe Chinedo and the SA Beading Team
Thenjiwe is a self-made and fiercely talented beading artisan and small business owner in South Africa. Honing their traditional African beading artistry passed down through generations, Thenjiwe and a team of beaders work with interdisciplinary artist, Ralph Ziman, to embellish military vehicles and equipment that hold historical significance from times of conflict and oppression in Africa to create art installations and give the pieces a new, and very different, meaning. Thenjiwe and her colleagues use patterns, precise measurements, and thousands of African, glass beads to create large beaded sheets that are then shipped and installed on-location in Ziman’s workshop. Together, they help bring Ziman’s vision for each unique installation to life.
