—defunct context is a premise, research platform and curatorial strategy concerned with taking seriously the idea of personal Archives. It investigates how history, memory, and knowledge are preserved and transmitted outside of traditional written records.
The platform actively facilitates research residencies and student projects, serving as a practical incubator for new scholarship and creative exploration. It emerged as a public response to persistent colonial aesthetics within the refurbished Anthropology Museum at the University of Witwatersrand, and has since considered the spatial limitations of an art school while confronting the presence of Lobedu material culture within colonial museum buildings. In the village of Gasekgopo, it functioned as an immersive exhibition space hosting a camera obscura on an abandoned hill, posing the question, “what kind of an image is land?”
The project currently focuses on how histories are carried beyond written records—drawing from memory, ancestral knowledge, and everyday materials. At the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026, the project is manifested as a physical pavilion infused with Mafadi (salt) and camera obscura images. The structure is designed to offer a space for reflection on how archives are inherently carried within the body and the land, and how knowledge moves across generations.
—defunct context is a research project by Dr George Mahashe, hosted around the theme of intangible heritage in collaboration with Iziko Museum. The project is supported by the UCT NRF BAAP grant and NIHSS Catalytic Research grant Vice Chancellor’s 2030 Future Leaders Project
2026
Pavillion Prototype III: Camera Obscura #0 Mafadi. Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, Saudi Arabia. Contributors: —defunct context, George Mahashe.
2025
Transire: an ode to —defunct context. 7th iteration of iTi ritual studies by Yonela Makoba. Pavilion Prototype II, Cape Town. Ritual assistance: Zizi Onkabetse Masizana. Sound by: Buli. (15 November 2025)
An Invisible Universe. Facilitated by Kamil Adam Hassim in collaboration with –defunct context. Contributors: Sean Sanby and Lilavan Gangen. (13 November 2025)
2024
Ritual Procession. Iti Ritual Studies. 5th teration of iTi ritual studies by Yonela Makoba. Pavilion Prototype 2, 31-37 Orange Street, Cape Town. (27-28 November 2024).
A ritual of the Conservation of Energy II. 2nd iteration of iTi ritual studies by Yonela Makoba. Pavilion Prototype 2, 31-37 Orange Street, Cape Town. 6 September 2024
2023
A ritual of the Conservation of energy. 1st teration of iTi ritual studies by Yonela Makoba. Pavilion Prototype 2, 31-37 Orange Street, Cape Town. November 2023
GROUND STORIES. Research Residency facilitated by –defunct context. Resident Artist: Sam - /Xam Fortuin. (11, 13. 18 October 2023).
Event Horizon II. Pavilion Prototype 2 U406, Cape Town. Connect South Africa Residency in collaboration with –defunct context, Pro Helvetica, South African Astronomical Observatory, SARAO & Arts at CERN. Developed by artist Kamil Hassim and curated by Sihle Sogaula. (30 May - 30 July 2023).
https://uduqko.com/portfolio/event-horizon-ii
Pavilion Prototype 2: U406. Iziko Bertram House, Cape Town. (8 April 2023 to 30 February 2024)
Event Horizon. Constitution Hill, Johannesburg. Connect South Africa Residency in collaboration with –defunct context, Pro Helvetica, South African Astronomical Observatory, SARAO & Arts at CERN. Developed by artist Kamil Hassim and curated by Bulumko Mbete. (17-25 March 2023).
https://uduqko.com/portfolio/event-horizon
https://prohelvetia.ch/en/whats-on/connect-south-africa-residency/
2021
Handle with Care: Makhalaka. Javett Art Centre, University of Pretoria, South Africa. (8 May 2021 to 31 January 2022)
Lebitla la Ngaka: Interfacing New Heavens. Javett Art Centre, University of Pretoria, South Africa. (24 June 2021 to 09 January 2022) Pretoria, South Africa. Online component available: https://javettup.art/news/lebitla-la-ngaka
Contributors: George Mahashe and Vanessa Lorenzo Toquero. Developed with: Artists-In-Labs program at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHDK). Collaborative Participants: Natalie Paneng and Martin Wilson. https://javettup.com/exhibitions/interfacing-new-heavens
2019
Ejaradini. Anthropology Museum, Johannesburg. Facilitated by MADEYOULOOK and Birgitta Stone-Johnson. Contributors: Wits Department of Architecture and Planning and 3rd year Anthropology students. (April 18 to June 2021)
https://witsvuvuzela.com/2019/05/02/ejaradini-a-creative-look-for-wits-courtyard/
Camera obscura #0 Thabana ya Dafida. Ga-Sekgopo, South Africa.