Hasan & Husain Essop

Twin brothers Hasan and Husain

Essop (South Africa, 1985) live and work

in Cape Town. They are both graduates

of Cape Town’s Michaelis School of Fine

Arts. In 2009 they were artists in residence

in Cuba. During their stay they exhibited

at the Havana Biennial. In that same year

they also gave workshops at the University

of Hamburg in Germany. The work of the

Essop twins is to be found in various collections,

including those of the Durban

Art Gallery and the South African National

Gallery.

In the photos of Halaal Art the Essop twins

play on the theme ‘identity’. As twins they

already are a doubling, but in addition to

that they have cloned themselves. We see

a profusion of twins, engaged in various

pursuits and altercations. We see them

in front of a huge Coca-Cola logo, for instance:

some of the twins are drinking this

beverage, whilst others seem to be rebelling

against it. The Essops are searching for

their own identity, in the context of an icon

of Western consumerism. They also photograph

themselves in three distinct cultures:

South African, Cuban and German.

Thanks to this changing backdrop, they

constantly cast themselves in a different

light. Those trips abroad, for instance, reveal

something of their own position as

young Muslims living in a secular society,

a society that is not founded on Islamic

traditions. Thanks to this play on contrasts

the Essops’ identities become increasingly

clear.