The exhibition is curated by Johannesburg artist Siwa Mgoboza and features South African artists Blessing Ngobeni, Patrick Bongoy, Luke Radolff, Nelisiwe Xaba & Mocke Jansen van Veuren, and Ayana V. Jackson. Each of these artists tackles the proposed questions on race and identity in different ways from Blessing Ngobeni’s Guernicaesque sculptures to an immersive and ethereal video experience by Ayana V. Jackson.
Spread over ten days The Demonstration includes a conversation series hosted by the artist, curator-led exhibition tours as well as tours of Johannesburg 'Through the Eyes of Artists' taking place in Fordsburg, Soweto and Westbury.
As a lead-up to the event NMAFA+ also hosted an intensive workshop with young artists where they reckoned with the question ‘What Comes First?’. The results of this can be seen at their AtWork exhibition.
Taken together The Demonstration presents a number of events and artworks that allow the viewer to reflect on important issues around systemic racism, its legacies and ways to address it going forward. Speaking on The Demonstration, Ngaire Blankenberg, director of the National Museum of African Art says, “We believe in art as an important catalyst for conversation and to reimagine change.” Read more about it here.
The Demonstration opens with a live performance by Nelisiwe Xaba and Mocke Jansen Van Veuren at 19:00, Sep 15 and will feature 10 days of experiences.
