Zulu Sign Language
2022
BLACKSBURG, VA: VIRGINIA TECH RESIDENCY
Pinder’s latest project Zulu Sign Language considers the complex hybrid of politics and movement within sign language to explore Blackness in the most unexpected places. In 2015, Thamsanqa Jantjie, the infamous ‘fake interpreter’ for Nelson Mandela’s memorial service, unintentionally shed light on corruption in South Africa and the disenfranchisement of the Deaf community. When confronted with his administration’s handling of Jantjie’s hiring, President Zuma took the insult a step farther and coined the fake signs as ‘Zulu-Sign Language’.
Using this painful circumstance of irreverence as a match point for exploring the liberatory possibilities of Black dialects of America and beyond, Pinder draws on his background in performance to illuminate struggle with the flow of performer Kasiem Walters’ rhythmic power. Through both silence and dynamic Black nationalist music, nuances of communication become evident as the performance gradually turns into a stylized experience that reveals a host of social issues and experiences through the lens of Blackness.
2021
CHICAGO STUDIO SHOOT
