Hi everyone!

This is just a note to say that the I collect gingers project – which took place from 2010-2016 is complete! Of course, this project is endless and could have continued indefinitely (more incredible gingers pop up daily!), but I decided that, as an artist, I needed to move on to new projects and new challenges.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

You are welcome to check out my other artwork here:

http://www.antheapokroy.com/art/

Thank you for your interest! Please enjoy looking through these 505 magnificent gingers!

Anthea

x

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For Immediate Release:

Global Call to Gingers to ‘be collected’

Gingers (aka redheads) across the globe have the opportunity to become part of the largest archive of gingers the world has ever seen. 

Johannesburg, South Africa, 27 January 2016 – Renowned South African artist, Anthea Pokroy started photographing, interviewing and cataloguing gingers in 2010. After 3 years of ‘collecting’ this minority group of people, Pokroy, a ginger herself, exhibited her first 500 subjects in a solo exhibition entitled, ‘I collect gingers’. The exhibition took place at a leading Johannesburg gallery, CIRCA. It was lauded by the local community and gained traction through social media as well as through local and international press.

Since the exhibition she has received thousands of requests from gingers from all over the world asking how they could become part of the collection. She explains, “This inspired me to take the movement global in an endeavor to further explore the complexities of collective identity and ‘otherness’, as well as the obscurities of racial profiling. I am attempting to interrogate the process of inclusion – and exclusion – that emerges from categorizing people. As I myself am a ginger, this is my starting point to engage in this conversation.”

Pokroy aims to expand her study by inviting gingers from around the world to participate. Gingers will now be able to become a part of her well-known collection in 3 easy steps:

• First, they will need to send a passport photo of themselves by post to Pokroy
• Second, they should complete an online questionnaire about being ginger
• The third step is optional – Pokroy asks participants to send a voice note speaking about their experience of being ginger

For the detailed steps on how to ‘be collected’, please visit www.icollectgingers.com/global-call

Once all the steps have been completed, and in return for participating in the project, gingers will receive via post, a certified copy of their own personalized ginger identity card signed by the artist.

“I see what I am doing as an almost anthropological study into a group of people with a shared, yet random, characteristic. My project suggests that hair becomes another coordinate from which we are able to create personal and collective identities and narratives. The collected photos, data and sound from hundreds, or hopefully thousands, of gingers will be collated to form part of my next solo exhibition,” concludes Pokroy.

Ends

Further information:

Follow @icollectgingers on Facebook & Instagram to see the progress of the project and use the hashtags #icollectgingers #thegingerarchive #gingerindex to join the conversation.

For the detailed steps on how to ‘be collected’, please visit www.icollectgingers.com/global-call

For more information about the project please visit www.icollectgingers.com

Click here for media coverage on the project

Click here to see Pokroy’s talk at TedxJohannesburg

For media enquiries please contact:

Anthea Pokroy

Email: icollectgingers@gmail.com

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ATTENTION GINGERS AROUND THE GLOBE!

After some time engaged with other projects, I am back at collecting gingers!

I have collected 500 gingers so far (since 2010), the majority of which are from South Africa and a few from other parts of the world when I photographed at Redhead Days in Breda in 2012.

You have been asking, “How can I become a part of the collection?” I have FINALLY come up with a solution to collect gingers from all over the world! This next phase of the project will culminate in another exhibition of (hopefully!) thousands of gingers.

Follow the 3 simple steps below to be collected:

1. YOUR PHOTO

• Take a passport / identity photo at your nearest photo booth / drugstore / photo store. They usually come in sets of 4 or 6.
• Make sure the background is white and wear a white top. No smile!
• Take a single strand of your ginger hair, stick it to a piece of paper with your full name, email address & return postal address.
• Place your photos, hair & contact details in an envelop and post/mail to (Yes, old-school post is fun!):

I collect gingers, PostNet Suite 153, Private Bag X2600, Houghton, 2041, South Africa

• Let us know via email that you have posted the envelope: icollectgingers@gmail.com

2. YOUR INFORMATION

• Fill in this google form to let us know more about you and your experience of being ginger: http://tiny.cc/gingerform
• You can only submit this step once who have posted your photo! (step 1)

3. YOUR VOICE RECORDING (optional)

• Record a voice note, telling us about what it is like being a ginger – from childhood to now, the things you love and hate, your good and bad experiences, your compliments and insults, or any other memories or experiences you might have.
• It can be as long or as short as you wish.
• Make sure to record yourself in a quiet space and that you can be heard clearly. Include your full name with the sent voice note.
• Send this via email to icollectgingers@gmail.com or via whatsapp to +2763 603 5808 (South Africa)

THAT’S IT! YOU’RE DONE! YOU ARE NOW A PART OF THE BIGGEST GINGER ARCHIVE THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN!

You will receive a certified copy of your own ginger identity card via post, signed by me – so make sure to include your return postal address!

Follow me on Facebook and Instagram to follow the progress of the project – @icollectgingers

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Its been a year since my exhibition opened and the launch of my book in January 2013! I still have a few copies left!

In celebration of this, I am offering a discount on a personalised signed copy of the book for only R150 or $15 (excl. shipping)

Please CLICK HERE to place your order.

The book includes all 500 portraits of the gingers that I photographed over a 3 year period, as well as my Ginger Manifesto, a ginger history and examples of ginger identity cards. It also has some text that was written by art theorist James Sey as well as my own artist statement.

This book was made possible by the generous support of the public through my online crowd funding campaign (See the past campaign and watch my ‘pitch’ video HERE).

I really can’t believe how quickly this last year has gone, and I am so honoured that my Facebook page and the general support of this project keeps on growing!

Ginger love

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After almost a full year of not photographing gingers (a break, I guess, after 3 years and the whirlwind that was my exhibition in Jan), I am going to have ginger shoots in Australia! I am here to visit my brother and sister in Sydney and aunts and cousins in Melbourne and thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to make my collection more global and spread the ginger word

I am currently looking for locations to shoot in both cities and am recruiting more gingers!

If you know of a venue or, even better, are ginger or know any please contact me on icollectgingers@gmail.com.

So I hear in Aus they call gingers RANGAS… I’m not too sure how I feel about that one?!

YAY! Looking forward to meeting you Aussie gingers… (I have been here for only 2 days and have seen SO MANY!!)

ginger love <3

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On 18 August 2013 I was invited to give a TED talk at TEDxJohannesburg. It was the scariest thing I have ever done – but an amazing and rewarding experience too!

The talk deals with anecdotes of being a redhead and the real concept and meaning behind the project.

I would love to hear what you think! Please leave comments…

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As part of my imagined narrative of a ‘ginger utopia’, I decided that it was human nature to ‘other’ and create hierarchy and difference. So, even in a single-raced world, there would always be the need for humanity to say ‘I am more ginger than you’ – to create sub-classifications.

In my exhibition, the 500 gingers were grouped according to hair colour –  by my own system of classification to define who belongs where.

I created a rough ‘pantone strip’ as a reference for myself whilst grouping the gingers.

The range is:

Grey/Silver

Strawberry Blonde

Light Orange

Orange

Burnt Orange

Copper

Red

Dark Red

Auburn

Dark Aurburn

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