That White Wedding
Iteration II: In collaboration with That Eclectic
Photographs by Kayleigh Murray & Saarah Anna Fletcher
Two artists meet on social media and come together to investigate and unpick their Afrikaner culture on the topic of getting married. The performance makes overt questions around the initiation into adulthood through a wedding ritual, the presumed heteronormativity of the traditional Afrikaner wedding, sexuality and getting married, the personal aspects of getting married vs the community participations in ceremony and so much more.
In collaboration with That Eclectic the first iteration of 'Lilith & Lesbet Trou' is expanded on in an event called, 'That White Wedding'.
"We suspect that many White Afrikaners that grew up in conservative Christian homes will understand the crippling pressure from parents and family members to have a wedding in order for them to start their lives with their chosen life partner (or even sleep in the same bedroom)", Nicolene reflects. This dilemma between conservative roots and “alternative” lives is at the core of the performance by Nicolene and Mandri. They play all the roles and scenarios involved in a wedding with conversative and alternative elements or guests.
In ‘The School of Life’s’ video “How to get married” they talk about how the structure of marriage in the modern age has changed so much from its origin- but that the ritual to form a marriage does not reflect these changes at all. Mandri and Nicolene recreate the disillusionment they feel with the rituals performed during a typical White Afrikaner wedding. They wonder how the skills required to have a healthy relationship are equipped during the wedding ritual. Satire and comedy are used in their performance to deal with real personal and cultural questions.
Lilith & Lesbet Trou
Iteration I: Independent House Performance
Photographs by Lara Hattingh
The first performance in this series was performance as a "house wedding" at Nicolene's home in Fish Hoek. The performance was unpacked in depth in two episodes on Air It Podcast and in an article by Azille Coetzee.
