Innovative Curatorial Projects – Paris / SingaporeStacy Hardy
*1973, Polokwane, South Africa. Lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa.
Stacy Hardy is a writer holding the dual position of researcher and editor of the Pan-African journal Chimurenga. Her writing has appeared in a wide range of publications, among which Donga, Sweet Magazine, Litnet, Pocko Times, Art South Africa, Ctheory and, of course, Chimurenga. Several of her short stories have been published in books, literary anthologies and catalogues. She recently completed the libretto for an opera in collaboration with South African poet Lesego Rampolokeng. Among her many current and future projects are a series of films and graphic novels – both solo works and co-productions with a broad variety of innovative creators.
I Love You Jet Li (with Jaco Bouwer) / South Africa / 2005 / 11'20 / 4:3
Beijing, China. International Wushu master and cult Kung Fu film legend Jet Li tours the city to promote his latest blockbuster action film. 12 000 km away, at an airport in Africa, a young woman waits to fly out to meet him. What follows is a peculiar tale: part love letter, part post-traumatic electronic travel diary. Written by Stacy Hardy and directed by Jaco Bouwer, with an original soundtrack by acclaimed experimental electronic composer Felix Laband, the film speaks of intense loneliness, desire, anxiety and incomprehension in the face of movement - across space, borders, class and gender divides - at once always incipient and forestalled.