Tracey Rose
A Dream Deferred (Mandela Balls) (2013 – ongoing)
This installation consists of sculptural balls made from various scrap materials such as butcher’s paper, packaging tape, cling wrap, newspapers, paper towels, inflatables, sand and glue. The series is an ongoing project to create ninety-five balls, a figure that represents Nelson Mandela’s age at the time of his death. Reference to Mandela’s testicles in the title interrogates the symbolism of the male hero who becomes the paternal figure of a democratic nation.
The title is also inspired by Langston Hughes’s poem Harlem (A Dream Deferred), published in 1952. In the poem, Hughes ponders the afterlife and longevity of a political revolution, asking, ‘Does it dry up like a raison in the sun?’ In the context of African-American history, the sculptures point to the castration of men during slavery. This torture was used as a method to force Black men into submission. These balls also highlight the absence of women in male-dominated liberation struggle narratives, thereby considering the lack of gender equality in revolutions. Rose suggests that in order to fully liberate a nation, the hopes and dreams of a revolution should be more inclusive of women’s voices.
Mandela’s utopic vision for South Africa can only be fulfilled with the inclusion, advocacy and support for female leadership. The balls also symbolize the impotence of dried-up testicles, which alone cannot give proverbial birth to the empowerment of independent states.