The opening night, emotionally charged with electric glinting grins that masked the inevitable post-installation exhaustion, was a celebration of a four year endeavor. This year’s graduating class first stepped foot into the academy in 2016 during the midst of the historic #FeesMustFall moment. A time defined by renegotiations of power dynamics and institutional critique achieved…
The starting point for thinking through this show is rust. Quite simply, rust occurs when iron or its alloys (such as steel) corrode. This compound of rust (iron oxide or Fe2O3) is a result of the reaction of oxygen to moisture in the air. The process is slow and once complete renders the steel damaged,…
Steven Cohen’s latest exhibition There’s glitter in my soup! invites audiences into a behind the scenes, post-performance moment. His series of self-portraits, carefully put together with the tape used to remove his make-up, are an instance of relative calm in his three-decade long performance practice. The glitter, the butterfly wings, the eyelashes, imprints of fold…
The majority of the young creatives I have had the pleasure of collaborating with reside, as I do, in an African country. While they come from widely diverse formative and cultural experiences, in many recent works I have recognised a common aspiration: the wish to navigate ideas of identity in the present. Flurina Rothenberger “Visitors”. Photographers…
Abstract: You said, “Excuse me, am I in the way?” Knowing all the while that you were the way. You had this canny ability to shape an untenable reality, mold it, sing it, reduce it to its manageable, transforming essence, which is a knowing so deep it’s like a secret. In your silence, enforced or…
An unwavering gaze. Leisurely looking. Neon talons punctuate a poised hand. Reclining into the soft embrace of cascading furs. What started from the genesis of a broken heart has developed into a striking body of work. Thinking bout’ you (2019), the first of the series, is in a sense a visual reminder of the artist’s…
Joburg Film Festival was established as an independent platform with a focus on African narratives. Running from 19 – 24 November 2019; the festival acts as a platform to showcase and praise excellence in film both locally and internationally. Brought to the public in collaboration with MultiChoice, handpicked films selected from more than 16 countries…
The ocean is the medium which has facilitated globalisation and cultural exchange, but also colonialism and imperialism. As environmental degradation and global warming continue to damage the oceans, understanding their impacts on human society becomes an urgent matter of survival. Landlocked Johannesburg is far from any ocean. And yet, the tides and flows of the…
Late capitalist urbanisation is the ultimate synthesis of paranoia and boredom. Cities are defined by increased security and surveillance, control-centric architecture and reduced access to public space. This all mixed in with a dose of banalisation. Corporate greed and short termed civic planning reduce cities to branded spaces intended exclusively for commerce and work. Look…
The IN:DIALOG series aims to activate ‘wasted’ potential space, through moments of art, performance, workshops & discussions. Each event is contextually grounded, allowing for a site-specific response to form through the development of a temporary architecture in relation to place. The creative team consists of Ilze Wessels (Is Sound Architectures) and artist Nina Erasmus. Conscious…
“The expulsion of people forms part of the city’s transformation, and once-Lagosians find themselves lost in the iterations of Lagos, caught between the known and the unknown, foreigners at home. Always, the city is a mad horse; you either ride it or die.” – Wale Lawal Year: 2115. City: Lagos. Being online is routine and…
Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity…When we reject the single story, when we realise that there is never a single story…
