Churchill Madikida

Madikida writes:

It is widely acknowledged that children need structure, security, stability and attachment to develop and flourish. Issues such as high divorce rates, new family structures, increased mobility, women's liberation etc are very common in our modern society and this has a huge impact on what a nuclear family has normally been conceived to be.

Fathers are cited more than mothers in issues such as psychological maladjustment, substance abuse, depression and behavioural problems, according to research done by Ronald Rohner, director of the Center for the Study of Parental Acceptance and Rejection in the School of Family Studies at the University of Connecticut, and his colleague Robert Veneziano. They also found that a father's love helps prevent the development of these problems and can contribute to a child's good health.

I grew up without my biological father, and this exhibition sets out to explore what happens to sons who grow up without their fathers. Drawing from my own personal experience, the works on exhibition engage with my complex family history. The exhibition titled Like Father Like Son? will explore the differences and commonalities with members of my family and especially my father who I have only recently met for the first time in 32 years. The artworks will provide an insight into my struggle with understanding how my growing up without my biological father might have shaped my sense of being, my relationships and even my perception of the world.

In this exhibition I am trying to share my struggles in trying to understand and overcome growing up without a biological father. For me this process includes dealing with and acknowledging shortcomings and wrongs of the past and mostly offering forgiveness and moving forward.

Touring 29 June 2006 - 23 June 2007

Churchill Madikida's Standard Bank Young Artist 2006 exhibition, titled Like Father Like Son?, opened at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown (29 June - 8 July 2006) and travels to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum in Port Elizabeth (26 July - 24 September 2006); Durban Art Gallery (15 November 2006 - 14 January 2007); the Johannes Stegmann Gallery, Bloemfontein (7 February - 2 March 2007); the South African National Gallery in Cape Town (24 March - 22 April 2007); and the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg (15 May - 23 June 2007).

Churchill Madikida
Like Father Like Son?

Stationen:
26.07.06 - 24.09.06 Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, Port Elizabeth
15.11.06 - 14.01.07 Durban Art Gallery
24.03.07 - 22.04.07 South African National Gallery, Kapstadt
15.05.07 - 23.06.07 Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg
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