Dan Halter’s artistic practice is directly related to his identity as a Zimbabwean living in South Africa. In an artist statement, he has said that this work “deals with [his] sense of dislocated national identity, human migration and the dark humour of present realities in Southern Africa”. 
 
In Cape To Cairo, Halter repurposes excess fragments from previous works, creating this sculptural work for Proto's Specialised collection. The work is made up of slivers of railway lines cut out from maps, bundled together and perched on a stand. 
 
In its structure, the piece resembles a rolling tumbleweed, a symbol of isolation and silence passing through barren land, reinforcing Halter’s message of displacement and finding a sense of place, as the title suggests.

10 x 22 x 10 cm | archival paper on perspex stand  

Zimbabwean artist Dan Halter (b.1977) graduated from the University of Cape Town with a bachelor’s degree in fine art in 2001. He currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa.