Personal Affects: Power and Poetics in Contemporary South African Art
September 2004 - January 2005
SEASON SOUTH AFRICA
Contemporary Visual and Performing Arts from South Africa
AT THE MUSEUM FOR AFRICAN ART, THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE, NEW YORK
The Museum for African Art and The Cathedral of St. John the Divine will jointly host Season South Africa, a major program of contemporary visual and performing arts that runs from September 2004 through January 2005. Produced by the Museum for African Art and Spier, Season South Africa includes a visual art exhibition featuring seventeen South African artists and a series of lyric theater productions by the company Dimpho Di Kopane, as well as a range of lectures and other public programs. Launched during the year that South Africa is commemorating its first decade of democracy, Season South Africa showcases some of the most gifted and acclaimed contemporary visual and performing artists from the country chosen by an international team of curators.
Personal Affects: Power and Poetics in Contemporary South African Art will be on view at two locations in New York City: at the Museum for African Art in Long Island City from September 23, 2004 to January 3, 2005; and, at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, from September 24 to December 5, 2004. Performances by lyric theater company Dimpho Di Kopane will take place in Synod Hall at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine from October 27 to November 28, 2004. A free shuttle service will run between the two venues on the weekends to assist in viewing the entirety of the exhibition.
Personal Affects presents newly commissioned and recently produced works by seventeen South African artists. The artworks represent artists’ responses to a weeklong stay in New York and visits with a team of international curators. The exhibition features an extraordinary lineup of artists working in diverse media, including sculpture, drawing, photography, painting, installation, video, performance and dance. The common thread throughout the exhibition is the highly personal point of departure of their working methods, informed by their varied experiences as South Africans. Participating artists are Jane Alexander, Wim Botha, Steven Cohen, Churchill Madikida, Mustafa Maluka, Thando Mama, Samson Mudzunga, Jay Pather, Johannes Phokela, Robin Rhode, Claudette Schreuders, Berni Searle, Doreen Southwood, Clive van den Berg, Minnette Vri, Diane Victor and Sandile Zulu.
Running concurrently with Personal Affects at the Museum for African Art will be Glimpses from the South: a Selection of African Art from the Johannesburg Art Gallery. This exhibition constitutes one of the many aspects in which South African institutions have collaborated with the Museum for African Art in New York to create Season South Africa. It includes masterpieces of traditional South African art and will open September 23, 2004 at the Museum for African Art’s Focus Gallery, and will run through February 28, 2005.
Public Program for Personal Affects, September 26 at the Museum for African Art
Meet the Artists
Panel Discussion with Exhibition Artists and Curators
12 – 1:30pm First Panel Discussion
Moderated by David Brodie and Laurie Ann Farrell
Participating Artists Include: Wim Botha, Steven Cohen, Thando Mama, Johannes Phokela, Robin Rhode, Claudette Schreuders and Diane Victor
1:45 – 2:15pm Performance by Jay Pather (duration approx. 18 minutes)
2:30 – 4pm Second Panel Discussion
Moderated by Churchill Madikida and Sophie Perryer
Participating Artists Include: Mustafa Maluka, Samson Mudzunga, Jay Pather, Doreen Southwood, Clive van den Berg, Minnette Vari and Sandile Zulu
Support
Season South Africa is a Spier initiative, with substantial support from Brand South Africa and Nando’s. Additional funding comes from Hollard Insurance and Spier Wines from Winecorp.
The Museum for African Art
Location:
36-01 43rd Avenue at 36th Street, Long Island City, New York
Hours:
Monday, Thursday, Friday: 0am- 5pm
Saturday and Sunday: 11am- 6pm
Tuesday and Wednesday: Closed
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine Location:
1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 111th Street, New York City.
Hours:
Monday through Saturday: 7am- 6pm
Sunday: 7am- 7pm
For more information on Season South Africa, please contact the Museum for African Art at (718) 784-7700 or visit www.seasonsouthafrica.org
Media Contact:
Antoine Vigne or Catherine Krudy
Blue Medium, Inc.
T: (212) 675-1800
F: (212) 675-1855
E: antoine@bluemedium.com
