The cultural and artistic vibrancy of Johannesburg and Cape Town

Both cities host art museums, art fairs, art auctions and an array of art galleries

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

The number of exhibition taking place around Johannesburg currently is huge and this means that contemporary art is thriving in the country in general and in Johannesburg in particular. And of course Cape Town and Johannesburg have always been the centre of visual art in the country, but in recent years, artistic activities in these two cities has increased in a big way despite the disruptions that came with the outbreak of the global pandemic Covid-19.

For example the country’s leading art auction houses Strauss &Co. and Aspire Art both have offices in both Cape Town and Johannesburg, and regularly host art auction sales in both cities. And just last month, Cape Town hosted the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, and those who attended the event reported that this year’s art fair was well attended and good business was achieved by participating galleries.
Johannesburg is not only a home to a number of art galleries, both small and huge, but it is home to three art fairs, Latitudes Art Fair, which will take place in May, Turbine Art Fair, which will take place shortly after in July and the FNB Art Fair whose dates have not yet been released but usually takes place in October.
Both cities also host art museums, both public and privately owned. Educational institutions in both cities also have museums that are open to the public, adding to a vibrant art culture in both cities.
Besides Iziko National Gallery, which is a public entity, Cape Town is a home to two privately owned museums, the Norval Foundation and Zeitz Mocca.
Johannesburg is home to the Johannesburg Art Gallery, which though is currently sadly facing an existential threat due mainly to neglect from the city authorities as its budget continues to be cut. The in which it is housed has seen its days. The building is crumbling and threatens to collapse, possibly taking the impressive art works in its collection to its demise.

But encouragingly, Johannesburg has now an impressive number of alternative museums that the public could visit, such as the Wits Art Museum in Braamfontein and three privately owned museums, and that is the Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation, The Holocaust and Genocide Centre and the newly opened Inside Out Centre of the Arts, owned by celebrated photographer artist Roger Ballen. All three are a stone’s throw from each other in Forest Town, along Jan Smuts Avenue. It is easy to travel from Forest town to either Braamfontein, or go north and just a few hundred metres away, find yourself in the Parkwood gallery node.
There you can enjoy visiting a number of art galleries showcasing interesting art works by some of the most interesting contemporary artists in the country. Galleries that are located in this area include David Krut Gallery, Gallery 2, Circa and Everard Read Gallery. From here, If you go northwest, you will find yourself immersed in viewing art works at Gallery MoMo and Stevenson Gallery nearby in Park Town North. Travel further northwest, you will find yourself enjoying more art viewing at Guns and Rain at Number 5, 3rd Avenue, Parkhurst. And just a stone throw from Guns &Rain, there is situated Smac Gallery. And of course there are other galleries situated further north in Sandton.

This is off course besides the other art galleries scattered all over Johannesburg, from Newtown where from instance you will find the Bag Factory Artist Studios, which hosts a regular programme of exhibitions to nearby Rand Steam Shopping centre in Richmond, Milpark, which is a home to Candice Berman Contemporary Gallery as well as being a home to a new artists residency called the Creatory.

Add this to other art hubs around Johannesburg, such as August House Studios on End Street East of Johannesburg and Victoria Yards also East of Johannesburg, then you have a vibrant art culture in Johannesburg.
And of course yes, Maboneng is no longer what it used to be. But this is where you will still find cool art places in the area, such as David Krut Print Making Workshop and If you are luck you might even through the window see printmakers hard at work doing what they do best. It is also here where you will find world renowned and celebrated multi-disciplinary artist William Kentridge’s Centre for Less Good Idea. It often hosts cutting edge experimental interdisciplinary productions.

His studio is also situated here. And again If you are lucky you might bump on the artist in one of the coffee shops or in the streets while he is talking to some of the followers of his work and art practice. That is Johannesburg for you. It is multi-faceted. One time you are worried about you cell phone or your hand bag, but the next minute you are art home enjoy bubbles at the opening of an interesting exhibition or attending the opening of a museum or an art fair. Believe me, this can be achieved in one day. That is perhaps why many of us have developed a hate and love relationship with this city.
Enjoy the following exhibitions and art events this weekend around Johannesburg:
You’re a Bird, Sing a Song
Artists: Princia Matungulu and Sizwe Sama
16 March – 1 April 2023
About the Exhibition
What do kinship and community mean in contemporary South Africa? How do stories and identities travel from the past to the future, and who cares for them? What role do women play in all this? In this two-person exhibition of textile works, artists Sizwe Sama and Princia Matungulu give visual and tactile form to their own connections to family and community. The title of the exhibition is a translation of a Kiswahili saying of Matungulu’s mother’s – Uko ndege, Imba mwimbo – an exhortation to embody a positive attitude towards the world, to “sing a song”, regardless of one’s circumstances. Both artists feel a strong sense of kinship with their mothers, and see them as the custodians of the knowledge, culture, stories and practical skills that inform their artmaking today. The matriarchal orientation of their works challenges the cis-male domination of culture and society, and offers us a far more contingent, improvisatory and supple lens through which to experience the world.

.You’re a Bird, Sing a Song
Princia Matungulu (DRC/South Africa) and Sizwe Sama (South Africa)
16 March – 8 April 2023, Guns& Rain 5, 3rd Avenue, Parkhurst.
PENNY SIOPIS
FERAL FIGURATIONS
Opened on Saturday 25 March, and runs till April 29, 2023. This exhibition of new and recent painting, which runs until 5 May, celebrates Siopis’s 70th birthday and her expansive contributions to her field. A survey of her films, titled Never the Same Water Twice, is on view at our Cape Town gallery until 29 April.
Siopis will give a walkabout of Feral Figurations at the opening from 11am.
STEVENSON JOHANNESBURG
46 7th Avenue, Parktown North, 2193, South Africa
T +27 (0)11 403 1055

SARAH GRACE | SACRED WILD, 2023

VIP Opening with film screening: Thursday 30th March at 18:00 – 21:00
Bubbles with Artist: Saturday 1st April at 11:30 – 14:30
Held at Candice Berman Gallery | Riverside Shopping Centre, Bryanston
Join us for the opening of Sarah Grace’s Solo exhibition; Sacred Wild, where the artist will showcase her series of paintings created over the course of a year (November 2021 – October 2022) – her first year of motherhood.
Through her art, Sarah shares her journey of self-discovery and healing, which was largely inspired by the beauty and wonder of nature. Her paintings are a tribute to the transformative power of nature and the sense of renewal and hope it provides.
As a new mother, Sarah experienced a multitude of emotions and thoughts, some of which were difficult to process. But by immersing herself in nature and capturing its essence on canvas, Sarah found solace and a deeper sense of meaning
Candice Berman Gallery
Shop 8, Riverside Shopping Centre
Bryanston, Johannesburg
Email: info@candiceberman.co.za
Tel: 011 463 8524

Ex Terra Excetera

Artist: Lynda Ballen
This new body of work presents drawings on handmade paper, oil paintings on board and etchings, all of which emphasise the significance of the ‘handmade’, and stress that the materials of the works are substances yielded from the Earth. This exhibition opened on Saturday the 11th of March, 2023.03.28
David Krut Gallery, The Blue House, 151 Jan Smust Avenue, Parkwood.

Wits Art Museum
Make-a-Book : Mail Art with the Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts
Join us on Saturday 1 April from 11.30-12.30 for our Make-a-Book workshop and create your very own mail art/ists book, inspired by the exciting and unusual works of the current exhibition at JGCBA. All materials will be supplied but you are welcome to bring along new and used envelopes and postage stamps – and anything that you would like to work with.
This workshop will take place in the WAM Café / Gallery Forecourt area We look forward to seeing you there!

Stephan Welz
Just a reminder to please join us for the live auction in our Johannesburg Saleroom at 257 Oxford Road, Illovo. The auction takes place on the 28th, 29th & 30th of March 2023.
For condition reports or to schedule a viewing appointment, please contact our Johannesburg office on 0118803125 or email info@swelco.co.za