Reading into roads, specifically the degradation shown in the increase of potholes, as a reflection of a political past crossroading a precarious present, memory becomes a site of nostalgic contention and reconstruction. These crumbling craters provide an insight into the frail foundation South Africa was built upon due to colonial spatial planning.

‘Scar Made of Tar’ is a 28-minute video essay that merges familial super 8 mm films, archival South African cultural and political broadcasts and more recently taken footage of my hometown Bloemfontein. Reading into roads, specifically the degradation shown in the increase of potholes, as a reflection of a political past crossroading a precarious present, memory becomes a site of nostalgic contention and reconstruction. These crumbling craters provide an insight into the frail foundation South Africa was built upon due to colonial spatial planning.

Navigating personal moments of socio-political and cultural remembrance against a post-Apartheid backdrop, there’s a somewhat jarring jump between hope, humor, fear, guilt and anxiety. The broader picture of existing within the Anthropocene is also briefly explored as the lands we once knew are no longer the same. The potholed, man-made veins of movement become a secondary concern as the environment - ’the natural stage on which we act out the foolish deeds of the theatre of our day’ (Thabo Mbeki) - turns volatile and deadly.