Rohini Amratlal, Together we are strong and bold, and we shall rise above our struggles, 2022, Perspex, teabags, wire, loose tea and flowers (Installation), 1 x 1m diameter, height: variable dimensions
"Together we are strong and bold, and we shall rise above our struggles", speaks to women and children who are victims of domestic and gender-based violence in South Africa. Through the use of locally produced JOKO teabags, I aim to illustrate the strength of women and children through a Superhero cape form. I was inspired by the campaign drive of POWA (People Opposing Women Abuse), a South African NGO that advocates for women’s rights; and how JOKO has partnered up with them to demonstrate the fight against domestic and gender-based violence. Teabags are usually seen as soft and fragile just like the way women and children are seen. However, the strength comes from inside of the fragile coating. The deep colour, strong soothing sense of taste and smell express a few of many qualities women and children have. The campaign advertises a group of women around a table in support to help one another, while having a cup of JOKO tea. Through this campaign, I similarly visualize a group of women and children standing in a circle represented through Superhero teabag capes. These figures stand above a bed of loose tea and flower petals, drawing strength from one another to give hope and support to those who have been victims of domestic and gender-based violence. It is time to stand together and break the mould, rising with the support and love of each other to overcome all battles we face. Let us continue to be united and look after one another.
My works explore my personal experiences of love and loss as a result of racial differences in South Africa. The work reflects a lot around memories and the relationships I build with people I am surrounded by daily. I enjoy weaving as technique, as it looks at how one can bring different materials together in a harmonious way. I explore traditional weaving techniques from tapestry making to weaving grass mats in a contemporary narrative. This creates emphasis on developing unity in a diverse society without racial judgements. I tend to use tactile natural materials which are fragile but also sturdy as it creates awareness on the importance of the subject matter I am evoking in my work. Some of these materials include, teabags, cotton fabric, grass (incema), steel and beads.
Rohini Amratlal was born in 1998 in Durban, South Africa. She is a South African contemporary artist and emerging curator working with a range of materials to make drawings, prints, sculptures, and installations. Her work focuses on her personal experiences and connections she develops with various people, touching on matters of race, love and loss, identity and memory in post- apartheid South Africa.
Rohini is currently based in Durban, continuously practicing her creative work alongside developing as an emerging curator. In 2021 she obtained her Postgraduate diploma in Fine Art from the Durban University of Technology. She has also participated in an exhibition titled: “An Unfurling”, under the Young Artists Project as an intern curator, which was directed by the KZNSA. Rohini participated in a four-month internship with Carol Brown at Curate A Space and as a candidate in the Art bank commissioning program. She has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions in Durban and Johannesburg. Her most recent exhibition was a group show, After at KZNSA gallery in Durban. She also curated a show, Azilime Ziyetsheni, at the BAG Factory art studios in Johannesburg, under the Young/Unframed Bursary award.