Artist Micha Serraf

2016

Navigating post-apartheid South Africa as an alien renders many of my experiences surreal. The foreign nature, of both the socio-political and physical landscapes of South Africa, is continuously reinforced by the actions, reactions and interactions I have while on South African soil. In the year I was born, 62 school children encountered extraterrestrials in Harare and were all individually able to identically describe the encounter in detail. Being constantly reminded by the world that I am of alien origin has led me to investigate this side of myself. My work is informed by memories I have from when I was a child in Zimbabwe and my endeavour to understand the nostalgia I feel toward the unfamiliar. In an attempt to figure out what I am and where I belong - I will continue to make visual my memories, thoughts and narratives. Christa Dee wrote about my work saying: “We are each involved in a lifelong theatrical show. We each play multiple roles, constructing, interpreting and negotiating various social parameters. The end goal of this performance being the amalgamation of meaning- making, shared connection and belonging.”