Gallery re-opens to the public

FOLLOWING months of refurbishment, the Durban Art Gallery re-opened to the public in December, with a new exhibition throughout all gallery spaces, entitled Beyond Binaries.

Beyond Binaries is a curated exhibition featuring work by 26 artists. The exhibition aims to open up discussion on the current climate of polarization and intolerance, and the increasing trend towards fixed, essentialised identities.

The exhibition features works with video, photography, paintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, wire and mixed media works on show. South African born artists are complemented by their peers born in African countries as well as artists born in India, China and Germany. The exhibition has been curated by Qala!, a fledgling curatorial collective comprising Mario Pissarra, Robin Moodley and Russel Hlongwane, three Durban-born cultural workers.

Several exhibits address critical questions concerning race, gender, national identity and heritage. The relationship of people to the natural environment provides another sub-theme that is prominently featured. Several exhibits bring binaries into vivid focus, whilst others attempt to transcend these to create or suggest hybrid, fluid or emerging notions of identity.

The artists were selected following a process where 54 artists identified by a curatorial panel were invited to propose works on the theme of the exhibition.

The exhibition runs until 19 February. DAG is open seven days a week, Monday to Saturday, from 8.30am until 3.45pm, and Sundays from 11am until 3.45pm. Entry is free.