This project came at a time when I was considering the magic that is life. I was reflecting on that fine line we tread on a daily basis and how we even come to exist: the very point of conception, the moment of arrival, the coordination required to make each breath, and all the magic in between. This notebook can be viewed as a scroll, a commandment, to serve as a simple reminder of this fleeting life. This magic moment, this notebook, is the condensation of the present.
Born in Alexandra, one of Johannesburg’s townships, Jabulani Maseko was educated between a white private school where he was lawfully not allowed to be and the black slums where he ‘belonged’ in apartheid South Africa. Even though one could easily place Jabulani’s artwork within a post-colonial bracket, it would probably be a hasty reading of what is going on. Although framed by a specific background, Jabulani’s freedom speaks about the world wholesomely.
