This work was commissioned by and for RETREKS under the proposition 'How the other half...' and constitute the conceptual-artistic spine of the  unSUNg CITY event: RETREKS unSUNg CITY was first shown as a 'nine story multimedia show' at Kings City Parkade, Johannesburg, September 30, 2000.
Place's 'Bread City' draws on two fragments of experience in which bread resonates with a sense of history at once sublime, ironic, and poignant. The first concerns a documentary on De Beers, the diamond mining company, featuring footage of people worked to death in the (then) South West African desert, and paid in half a bread loaf at the end of each day. The second recalls PlaceÕs infant sister eating her way through the middle of a loaf attached to her pram on a walk back from the shops on a sunny South African day. Both of these moments collide with the contemporary reality of JoÕburgÕs inner city, where bread loaves are sold beside Nikes on street corners.
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Starring Nelson Ndlovu, editing Christine Hodges, video Amy Allais, digital imaging Ivor Templar
Rodney Place ° 1952 Johannesburg, South Africa
Lives and works in Johannesburg
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