Artist Talk with Ralph Ziman

Dive deep into the Casspir Project with Ralph Ziman and Floyd Hall as they discuss Ziman’s creative journey, insights, and inspirations. Join us for a film screening of The Casspir Project’s documentary film followed by a conversation between the artist, Ralph Ziman, and Atlanta Contemporary Executive Director, Floyd Hall.

About The Casspir Project

The Casspir Project charts the locus of the South African police vehicle’s legacy of institutional oppression — a legacy with which we are still reckoning.

The central element of the project is one of reclamation: an eye-catching and memorable piece of contemporary art—

Ziman’s 11-ton, 9-foot-tall, 22-foot-long Casspir police vehicle,entitled SPOEK 1. Ziman worked with nearly 100 artisans from Zimbabwe and the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, including women of the Ndebele tribe, to cover the entire vehicle with brightly-colored beaded panels comprised of 70 million glass beads in traditional patterns. Together, they restored, refitted, and transformed the Casspir from a symbol of tyranny into an icon of peace.

The Casspir Project has traveled throughout South Africa making stops at The South African National Gallery, Iziko Cape Town; The Turbine Art Fair, Johannessburg; Everard Read Gallery- Keys Art Mile, Johannesburg; The Melrose Gallery, Johannesburg; and arrived in the United States in 2018 to travel to 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Brooklyn; The Rendon Gallery, Los Angeles; PULSE Art Fair, Miami; San FranciscoTextile and Tribal Show, San Francisco; Seattle Art Fair, Seattle; TASWIRA, Seattle; and RailSpur, Seattle.

“I remember columns of Casspirs, ten or fifteen, heading for the East Rand Townships of Daveyton and Katlehong,” Ziman says. “Heavily armed paramilitary police sitting casually on the roofs brandishing automatic weapons. I remember Casspirs flying at high speeds down the narrow, potholed streets of Soweto. I remember how the South African police would park two Casspirs in the road to form a blockade, forcing drivers to slow into an S-shaped route for tense inspection. My art tells of that history, because I see aspects of it repeating itself around the world. My work is a colorful reimagining of what I encountered, as well as a call for change.” - Ralph Ziman

Image Caption: Ralph Ziman and SPOEK 1 outside Fort Mason Center for the San Francisco Tribal & Textile Show, 2020. Photo credit: Mauricio Hoyos