Voices of our Heritage: exhibitions to visit in CPT and JHB

 

As September comes to an end and the approach of Heritage Day accelerates I have more frequently asked myself how I will celebrate and engage with the heritage of our beloved South Africa. I have recently been frequenting a few galleries around Cape Town, in which I have been exposed to a vibrant, disruptive and reflective body of work from a myriad of South African artists. It turns out that I will be working tomorrow, however, for those of you who still have not decided how to celebrate heritage day I have carefully selected a short list of exhibitions which are currently being showcased in galleries in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

The following is a list of current and upcoming exhibitions within the Johannesburg and Cape Town vicinities:

1.South African National Gallery (Iziko Museums), Gardens. 

Exhibition: The Art of Disruptions June 16 – October 23 2016.

A diverse group exhibition featuring multimedia artists speaking on current social disruptions. Below are two of the artworks featured in the exhibition. For more details on the exhibition click here.

Chapungu – The Day Rhodes Fell, Sethembile Msezane, 2015. Image curtesy of situate.org.au.

Artist Dean Hutton with artwork fuckwhitepeople wall, chair and golden dean boots.  Image curtesy of theteej.tumblr.com.

2.WHATIFTHEWORLD Gallery, Woodstock. 

Exhibition: Qokobe by Lungiswa Qgunta 31 August – 8 October 2016.

This is a solo exhibition which hosts an in depth and multilayered discussion of alcoholism amongst black people owing to manipulative and oppressive structures such as the ‘dop’ system which was used as a payment method for black farm workers. Further discussed is the use of the beer bottle as a weapon against the oppressive causes of the alcoholism within black households. For a detailed analysis of the installation click here.

Divider, Lungiswa Qgunta, 2016. Image curtesy of whatiftheworld.com.

Untitled, Lungiswa Gqunta, 2016. Image curtesy of whatiftheworld.com.

3. Michaelis Galleries, UCT Hiddingh Campus, Gardens.

Exhibition: Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi: An exhibition of paintings and prints 15 September – 14 October 2016.

This is a solo exhibition featuring the works of the internationally acclaimed South African artist Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi. The distinctive African exuberance captured by Sebidi in all her artworks is particularly apt for September, South Africa’s celebratory heritage month. For more information click here.

 Artist Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi with artwork in the background. Image by Alon Skuy, curtesy of timeslive.co.za.

4. Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg.

Exhibition: Hlabelela: It’s a New Morning Nkush by performance group ‘The Brother Moves On’ 24 September – 8 October 2016.

The Brother Moves On is a performance group narrating their personal stories through music, performance and visual arts. Hlabelela, the group’s first solo exhibition, speaks on ‘the malleability of black traditions’ as is written by African contemporary art website Contemporary And.  The group challenges the notion of a unified black experience through their discussion of their individualised beliefs, histories and cultural background. For more reading on the exhibition click here.

The Brother Moves on, image curtesy of okayafrica.com.

5. STEVENSON Gallery, Johannesburg.

Exhibition: Phases and Faces 10 by Zanele Muholi 15 September – 14 October 2016.

This solo exhibition by South African photographer Zanele Muholi speaks to the black lesbian and transgender community within. The exhibition marks the 10 year anniversary of the legalisation of same sex marriage in South Africa by Civil Union Act. The politicisation of black bodies and black sexuality is an integral part of a South African heritage, yet a topic which is rarely discussed. Muholi’s body of work offers South African viewers the opportunity for engagement with a much silenced topic within black communities. For a more in depth engagement with the iconology of the exhibition’s artwork and with the artist, click here.

Foreground: Comfort, Zanele Muholi, 2003. Own photo.

Zanele Muholi, MaGesh Zungu, Brooklyn, 2015. Image curtesy of http://www.stevenson.info.

If one is in the Cape Town area, I would personally recommend visiting the South African National Gallery. The Gallery presents the viewer with a wide range of exhibitions all of which engage with somewhat aspect of our South African heritage.

I sincerely wish you all both a festive and reflective Heritage Day.