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There's much to interest and delight art lovers in Joburg this week. Here's our pick of exhibitions worth seeing, and a few dates to diarise.
In a remarkable twist of fate, a series of works by visionary South African artist Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi was rediscovered after disappearing without a trace over 30 years ago. They're being shown to the public for the first time on home soil at UJ Art Gallery in the celebratory exhibition Ntlo E Etsamayang (The Walking House). Make sure you see it, it's awe-inspiring.
The landmark showcase Resilience and Reflection at the Apartheid Museum joins the chorus in exhibitions celebrating South Africa's unsung art heroes. This presentation of repatriated works by pivotal black artists who recorded township life in the dark days of apartheid is required viewing as the country's next general elections draw ever nearer. Meanwhile, at Javett-UP, there's a temporary showcase drawn from the acclaimed Bongi Dhlomo Collection (dating back to the 1960s) featuring some of the country's most prominent black artists.
Further down the line, mark your calendars for South Africa's biggest open studios event in May. Contra.Joburg has a new name and the most exciting line-up yet. Purchase early-bird tickets here for the immersive, two-day festival. Plus, artists take note: entries are now open for the career-building Sasol New Signatures Art Competition.
For those who couldn't make it to the Venice Biennale this year – don't worry, us too – we've got the next best thing. The latest episode of Unframed podcast features Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation (JCAF) director Clive Kellner and David Krut Projects director Ame Bell. Kellner's insights into the historic 1995 and 1997 Johannesburg Biennale, coupled with Bell's experiences curating the South African Pavillion in Venice, make for a fascinating episode. Listen to the conversation here.
For a full guide to what’s on in Joburg, explore our events calendar. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter published every Thursday morning. For extra daily updates, follow our Instagram page.
ART HIGHLIGHTS
Peter Cohen's methodically layered works get a solo showing at The Blue House, while seven up-and-coming artists touch down at 223 Jan Smuts. Over at Circa Gallery, there's a walkabout for Fumani Maluleke's biblical scroll-like paintings. As fashion takes centre stage in the Spring/Summer 2024 edition of South African Fashion Week, garments by emerging designers get a gallery showing at Keyes Art Mile.Opening Thu, Apr 18 from 17:30 – A solo project by Peter Cohen, Dissolving Realities opens at David Krut's The Blue House. The artist creates layered daydreams out of commonplace scenery to interrogate the reliability of memory. Read our 2022 interview with Cohen here.
Sat, Apr 20 from 11:00 – Fumani Maluleke's scenes of the South African countryside come to life on grass mat canvasses in Tsalwa lerintswa (The New Scroll). Join Maluleke for an artist-led walkabout of the exhibition at Everard Read's Circa Gallery this weekend.
Opening Sat, Apr 20 – Three new exhibitions come to 223 Jan Smuts. Sculptor and ceramicist Natalie de Morney honours her San ancestry in her first solo exhibition, Re-Connections, with Berman Contemporary, while the gallery shines light on seven emerging and early-career artists in The New Vanguard. Dalingcebo (Dali) Ngubane explores the concept of chaos in religion, mathematics, community, and the individual, in Chaos, A Theory with Candice Berman Gallery.
Sat, Apr 20 from 14:00 – 17:00 – To bring Harare-born artist Phillipah Rumano's debut solo with Origin Art to life, there'll be a fashion show of emerging designers inspired by the works in Women of Stone, with an after-party at Mesh Club. Book your tickets here.
Until Fri, May 17 – In 1991, Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi's art took her to Sweden where she was set to exhibit a series of works. While she waited, the pieces were lost without a trace. It's remarkable that 32 years since their disappearance, 28 of Sebidi's artworks were rediscovered and have since returned home. These long-lost treasures are shown to the public for the first time in Ntlo E Etsamayang (The Walking House) at UJ Art Gallery.
Tue, Jun 4 and Wed, Jun 5 – Calling South Africa's rising art stars: entries are open for the 2024 Sasol New Signatures Art Competition. Get your works ready for submission at one of several collection points across the country. In addition to a R100,000 cash prize, the winner gets a solo exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum. Read our interview with the 2023 winner Nosiviwe Matikinca here.
Until Wed, Jul 31 – In Resilience and Reflection, the Apartheid Museum showcases works from the Ifa Lethu Foundation's phenomenal collection. Created by black South African artists like Dumile Feni, Winston Saoli, and David Phoshoko Mothapeng, these pieces have been repatriated from 16 countries and provide a record of life in the townships during the dark days of apartheid.
SOLO SHOWS
Until Wed, Apr 24 – In How to Eat The Sun and The Moon at Goodman Gallery, Rio de Janeiro-based artist Laura Lima weaves her way through folklore, nature, and the transformation of materials over time through a series of large-scale textile pieces.Until Thu, Apr 25 – Sifiso Mkhabela explores the hardships and breakthroughs of life in Johannesburg in his solo show Concrete Cocoon at Asisebenze Art Atelier.
Until Fri, Apr 26 – Self-taught artist Bahati Simoens comes to BKhz Gallery with Sunset Market – a solo exhibition of surreal, vibrant paintings. Join a walkabout for the show on Sat, Apr 20 from 11:00 – 12:00 or 13:00 – 14:00.
Until Fri, May 3 – Interdependence is key to harmony in the natural world. It is this notion that Bronwyn Katz explores in a first solo with Stevenson Gallery, titled Stone's embrace, a love spiral of erosion and renewal.
Until Sat, May 25 – In the solo show Formed at Everard Read's Circa Gallery, Lionel Smit continues his exploration of the symbiotic relationship between sculpture and painting.
Until Thu, May 30 – The title alone for August House resident artist Itumeleng 'Mamase' Koloko's solo show at Rand Club packs a punch: This is a Man's World, but it Wouldn't be Anything Without a Woman or a Girl. Through mixed mediums of oil, charcoal, pastel, and acrylic, it's the artist's ode to the numinous nature of women.
Until end May – Offbeat Cape Town-based graffiti artist Slegh (aka @krinkywinky) gets his first solo exhibition of paintings, prints, embroidery, and more in Infekted by Dolphins at Braamfontein's Grayscale Gallery.
Until Mon, Jun 17 – There's no denying his artful eye when it comes to garment construction, but Lukhanyo Mdingi is venturing further into the art world with The Provenance Part II. Showing in the Women’s Jail at Constitution Hill, the exhibition is concerned with the preservation of archives – textiles, literature, and music – as they relate to Bantu indigeneity.
Until Sat, Jun 19 – The result of seven years of archival and field research, writer and artist Bettina Malcomess's film cycle Sentimental Agents tracks the journey of "a technician of minor histories, trying to tell the story of cinema's place in the South African War". Public programming around the exhibition at Wits Art Museum (WAM) responds to the resonance between this war history and our contemporary moment, making this a show you'll want to visit, and re-visit again.
Until Sun, Jul 7 – Tatenda Magaisa's multimedia exhibition It wearies me; you say it wearies you at Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) explores sanity and overwhelm with a touch of humour.
Ongoing – Renowned artist and photographer Roger Ballen's semi-permanent exhibition End of the Game at the Inside Out Centre for the Arts chronicles the practice of unrestrained hunting. Ballen will host walkabouts of the show, which will change periodically with input from various collaborators, on the first Saturday of every month. Follow @insideoutcentre on Instagram for details.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Opening Sat, Apr 20 from 11:00 – In Umpteen Impossible Things Before Breakfast at Gallery 2, see recent works by the University of Johannesburg's staff in the faculty of art, design, and architecture including Kim Berman, Bevan de Wet, and Gordon Froud.Until Sat, Apr 20 – Contemporary gallery Guns & Rain celebrates 10 years and counting with DECADE, an anniversary exhibition featuring work by their fantastic stable of artists including Adrian Fortuin, Bev Butkow, Tuli Mekondjo, and Isheanesu Dondo.
Until Tue, Apr 30 – Historical posters, banners, T-shirts, and two specially commissioned films are on celebratory display in Time to Act at the Apartheid Museum, commemorating 40 years of the United Democratic Front (UDF).
Until end Apr – A group show at Artyli Gallery, See Me Twice presents a dialogue between abstract and figurative art through the works of 14 contemporary African artists.
Until Sat, May 11 – Threading Through the Collections at Wits Art Museum (WAM) is a journey through sub-Saharan Africa in textile form. Including raffia fibre and beaten-bark cloth, tapestries, embroideries, and fabrics dyed with indigo and mud, the works span a wide geographic region and illustrate the significance of textiles across the continent over time. It's just beautiful.
Until end May – Incredible landscapes spanning mediums, styles, and eras are brought together in Near and Far at Keyes Art Mile's Gallery 1 and Atrium spaces. These rarely-seen works from a private collection are a treat (open Wed – Fri from 10:00 – 16:00 and Sat from 09:00 – 13:00).
Until Sun, Jun 2 – Pretoria Art Museum gets its moment in the sun with 60 Years of Artistic Journey, a retrospective exhibition chronicling the museum's evolution since it was founded in 1964. There are sure to be some special works on show.
Ongoing – The South African Gold Coin Exchange and the Scoin Shop are behind a permanent exhibition, We Love Mandela, at The Marc in Sandton Central. The group show charts some of the most important milestones in Nelson Mandela's life through paintings, textiles, and sculptural works.
SAVE THE DATE
Sat, May 4 from 10:00 – 18:00 – Key to the City, an analogue photography exhibition by Hayden Jennings exploring local graffiti culture, opens at Grayscale Gallery's project space.Sat, May 18 from 11:00 – Join provicative photographer Roger Ballen as he reflects on his career and latest publication, Polaroids, at the Rand Club ballroom. There's no charge but bookings are essential. RSVP here.
Fri, May 24 – Sun, May 26 – One of Joburg's premier art experiences returns to Shepstone Gardens this May. Early-bird tickets for the RMB Latitudes 2024 art fair are already sold out and we suggest you get yours soon – go here.
Sat, May 25 – Sun, May 26 – A unique, on-the-ground art festival, Contra.Joburg is the biggest open studios event in South Africa. Get your early bird tickets here until Thu, Apr 25.
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