WHATIFTHEWORLD is pleased to announce that Mohau Modisakeng is included in the group exhibition More Aphrike #7 »Afrofuturism is now« at M.Bassy in Hamburg, Germany.

Afrofuturism is a pop-culture movement which ensued in the African-American communities in the 1950s as a result of racism and discrimination. It then wanted to serve as a contrast to the sad state of current affairs, with an own vision of a future full of hope built on a mythology and aesthetics full of blackness, science fiction, the idea of liberation, surrealism and pop. Many of the issues surrounding society back at that time remain unresolved today. Perhaps this is also the reason why so many creative people have chosen to reawaken the idea of Afrofuturism today.

At the last event within the ‘More Aphrike’ series, we want to learn more about Afrofuturism and, at the same time, view it from an African-centric perspective. What relationship do artists from African countries have to Afrofuturism? Is the latest hype surrounding Afrofuturism a chance to be taken seriously on an international level? Or is Afrofuturism just another label which the Western-dominated art market is slapping on art from African countries? In the talk with professor and doctor of philosophy Nana Adusei-Poku, we want to discuss this in depth. The talk is supported by a showing of Afrofuturism films and videos presented by M.Bassy, including the classic Space Is the Place by Sun Ra from the year 1974, now in a remastered quality.

Program:
24.02.2018, 19.30 Opening & Talk with Nana Adusei-Poku
24.02 – 17.03.2018 Exhibition
10.03.2018, 21.45 Filmscreening: Sun Ra in »SPACE IS THE PLACE« in the Metropolis Kino, Hamburg

Opening hours:
Monday-Thursday 11.00-16.00
Satursday 12.00-18.00

Reservations : reservation@m-bassy.org

For more information click here.

WHATIFTHEWORLD is pleased to announce that Michele Mathison’s commission – ‘Angular Mass’ will be unveiled at the Silo District this month. The unveiling will take place at 6pm on the 15th  of February at the V & A Waterfront

The sculpture comprises of five large flywheels that formed an integral part of the original Grain Silo machinery when it was first constructed in 1921. When our historic building was repurposed, the flywheels were given to artist Michele Mathison. He used the wheels to create a static sculpture that nevertheless captures the dynamic motion of their rotational drive, and the sheer weight and size of the wheels.

The sculpture forms part of the V&A Waterfront’s Art in Public Places programme. This ongoing initiative brings creative outdoor elements to the property, allowing visitors to interact with and enjoy sizeable works of art on a free, open-air platform that is open 24-hours a day.

RSVP: Email njappie@waterfront.co.za

WHATIFTHEWORLD is proud to announce our 10-year anniversary, celebrating a decade of forging new paths in the South African contemporary art scene.

To mark this milestone in the development of the gallery and looking forward to the next 10 years, we are pleased to announce the launch of our new premises in central Cape Town opening April 2018.

With the opening of our new custom designed space we look forward to continuing to grow with our artists whilst drawing on the experience, aesthetic identity and relationships we have established over the past 10 years.

Moving forward we have decided to consolidate our efforts and focus solely on our Cape Town gallery space. The program will be dedicated specifically to ambitious solo projects and multi-disciplinary installations. With this renewed focus it is our intention to create an environment that will allow artists the freedom to create significant exhibitions.

We are excited to move forward into this next chapter with the support and commitment of our artists, collectors and community.

WHATIFTHEWORLD is pleased to announce that Buhlebezwe Siwani is included in the group exhibition Tell Freedom at the Kunsthal KAdE in the Netherlands. The exhibition will take place from the 27th of January to the 6th of May 2018.

The exhibition Tell Freedom comprises new and existing work by fifteen young artists from South Africa. In it, they reflect critically on the past, present and future of their country in a global context.

The artists featured in Tell Freedom are inspiring representatives of a generation of South African artists who have grown up largely since the abolition of apartheid. They carry the burden of their country’s history of violence and injustice, but at the same time look to the future and the rest of the world with optimism. Their work examines and comments on social, political and economic injustices rooted in the colonial era and period of apartheid. Through it, they seek to understand their own position in the changing society of South Africa and at the same time to imagine the future. 

The works of art in the exhibition confront visitors with the social inequality that exists in South Africa, but also in the Netherlands. A number of the artists have been asked to produce new works especially created for this exhibition and reflecting on the future: is it possible to envisage a future based on principles of humanity and equality, rather than on exclusion and division? 

Kunsthal KAdE
Eemplein 77, (Eemhuis)
3812 EA, Amersfoort
Open hours:
Tue – Sun from 11h00 to 17h00

Click here for more information.