History speaks through the power of art
The Javett art collection is as much a collection of works of art as it is a collection of histories recorded by SA artists.
Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria. Picture: Supplied
There’s a bizarre idea that art is sometimes not accessible. The truth is, go to any of SA’s public universities and you will see some sort of exhibition, usually at no cost.
In Gauteng, heading into autumn, university galleries are ready to shine.
UJ Arts Gallery
Exhibition: Inequality: A Different Picture Walkabout
When: until 18 March
Cost: free
Inequality: A Different Picture features poignant photo essays by three visual artists.
Questioning pervasive stereotypes about township youth, black fathers and women’s abilities, the photographers aimed to portray how three Cape Town-based individuals have confronted various forms of inequality to realise their passions, sustain themselves and their families, and bring change in their communities.
The French Development Agency spearheaded this project with its mandate to address inequality and social cohesion.
Working with award-winning South African photographer Neo Ntsoma, who mentored budding photographers Andiswa Mkosi and Ross Jansen, the resulting photo essays were realised in partnership with Igalelo.
This nongovernmental organisation is dedicated to equipping entrepreneurs from underprivileged areas of Cape Town with valuable skills, such as marketing, accounting and management, which are essential to build a successful and sustainable business.
Neo Ntsoma.
Ntsoma, one of the first black women to enrol in photography school in the 1990s, says: “I realised that by mentoring fellow photographers, I could empower people and multiply their potential. Now that I have some wisdom and experience under my belt, I feel even more obliged to guide other photographers to grow and succeed in this competitive industry.”
Ntsoma, Mkosi and Jansen edited their images of inspiring entrepreneurs to tell a coherent story that can be shared widely on various platforms.
Mkosi, a self-taught photographer, lyricist and performing artist, considers photography a privilege.
“It gives us the chance to see “chapters” in people’s lives that we would not otherwise see. As a young black photographer, I am able to change perspectives and challenge stereotypes by telling the true narratives and rewriting those that have been told wrong by outsiders.”
Wits Art Gallery
Exhibition: Paul Emmanuel – Men and Monuments
When: from 3 March
Cost: free
For the past decade, in an ongoing project titled The Lost Men, renowned artist Paul Emmanuel has challenged conventions around war memorials.
He has questioned which soldiers are memorialised and which are erased, and the stereotypes around soldiers and masculinity.
Featuring artworks from three iterations of The Lost Men, Paul Emmanuel – Men and Monuments highlights vulnerability, an aspect of masculinity so often denied by history and society. The exhibition will be opened by Sonia Dona Perez, the consulate-general of France in SA.
Javett Art Centre (University of Pretoria)
Exhibition: All in a Day’s Eve
When: ongoing
Cost: R50 to R150
The Javett art collection is as much a collection of works of art as it is a collection of histories recorded by SA artists.
A close look into the collection uncovers themes ranging from education, culture and architecture to the natural environment, representation, beauty, the land, religion and politics, to name just a few.
This curatorial proposal wants to grapple with these themes by rethinking and rearranging the way people look, think and write about the works from the modernists of the 20th century (and beyond).
All in a Day’s Eve proposes a refreshed look into these works, one that goes beyond reading them through their formalistic characteristics: beauty, light, colour, brush strokes and influences, but rather opens them up to how we can also understand them through the lens of the political climate they were produced in.
They are stripped of their perceived innocence to uncover layers of knowledge, which often remain unrecorded.
If, as an example, people begin this exploration with a painting by Ivanonia Roworth (1920-2018), titled The Return from School, Genadendal (1954), they will be able to uncover and understand a lot about the intricacies of the lesser-known versions of history.
This painting was produced in 1954 so it is a work created within a rapidly shifting political landscape, 1954 being the year of commencement of the Bantu Education Act of 1953.
(Compiled by Adriaan Roets)
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