Archive: Issue No. 102, February 2006

3.02.06 Siphiwe Zulu at the KZNSA Gallery
3.02.06 Dumile Feni retrospective at the Durban Art Gallery
3.02.06 'Images of Durban' at the African Art Centre
3.02.06 'Never Again' at the Durban Art Gallery
3.02.06 'Durban Today: eQuality of Life' at the Durban Art Gallery
3.02.06 Petros Ghebrehiwot at artSPACE Durban

13.01.06 Santu Mofokeng and Guy Tillim at the Durban Art Gallery
13.01.06 Coral Spencer Domijan at artSPACE durban
13.01.06 Members' Exhibition at the KZNSA
13.01.06 Pascal Chandler, Di Maroun, Marlene Wasserman and Sharon Zoepke at artSPACE durban

9.12.05 'Treasures from the Dungeon' at the TAG
 

Siphiwe Zulu's 'Confrontations' attempts to explore the notion of contemporary gender confrontation in his latest works. Zulu regards the elevation of women over men as sabotage to man's dignity. He believes that his paintings expose the practice of promoting women at the expense of men and he hopes to evoke some debate on this topic.

Zulu showed at the African Art Centre in 2000, at the KZNSA Gallery in 2002 and at the BAT Centre in 2003.

Opens: 6pm, February 14
Closes: March 5

The death in exile of one of Africa's greatest contemporary artists was a blow to South African art. Dumile Feni, born May 21, 1942 left South Africa for exile in 1968, after the powerful statements made in his work resulted in harassment by the apartheid security forces. Feni contributed hugely to the African 20th century art world, and also to the struggle against apartheid. His works show anguished figures, often contorted as if in immense pain. The figures are clearly African as, according to the artist, 'My subjects are Africans because they are my people, but my message, the idea I am bringing to put across has nothing to do with racialism.'

Feni died in New York, in 1991, just before he was due to return home. He died in abject poverty and didn't live to see the dawning of a democratic South Africa.

He held several group and solo exhibitions. In 1966 he won a Merit Award on the SAB Art Prize Exhibition. In 1971, he was awarded first prize for a bronze sculpture in the art competition of the African Studio Centre in Los Angeles and in 1967 he represented South Africa at the São Paulo Biennale. Feni was commissioned to sculpt the first African Nobel Peace Prize winner and ANC president Albert Luthuli. In addition, he showed all over the world and worked with the United Nations to commemorate Namibia Freedom Day in 1983. Feni participated in the 'Voices from Exile' exhibition that toured the United States in the mid-80s. His work is to be found in all major South African art museums and individual collectors include President Thabo Mbeki. His work is also found in collections in the USA, the UK, Sweden and Israel.

Opens: February 15
Closes: March 26

'Images of Durban' features works by a large group of local artists including Welcome Danca, Simmi Dullay, Ezequiel Mabote, Joseph Manana, Tamlyn Martin, George Msimang, Thabani Msomi, Irvin Nkwayana, Anet Norval, Derrick Nxumalo, Liesel Prins, John Roome, Victor Shange, Emmanuel Sibalo, Sthembiso Sibisi and others.

Opens: February 16
Closes: March 2

'Never Again' celebrates the 30th anniversary of Diakonia, an organisation well known for its involvment in the struggle for human rights in South Africa.

Diakonia's inaugural meeting was held on March 25, 1975 when churches in Durban came together at a time of injustice and repression to form an agency that would help people of faith to speak out and act courageously as apartheid strengthened its grip. Since the birth of our new democracy, Diakonia has continued to speak out and work towards a more just society, where the rights and needs of all are both recognised and met.

In recognition of Diakonia's contribution to this struggle a print portfolio entitled 'Images of Human Rights', a collection of works by South African artists produced by the Artists for Human Rights, in 1996, to celebrate the nations new Bill of Rights, will be on show at the Durban Art Gallery. It will be augmented by work from the gallery's permanent collection by various photographers' work alongside sculptures by Dina Cormick, prints by Azaria Mbatha and posters by Maria Criticos.

The exhibition will be an artistic celebration of the principles upon which the new democracy was founded and will depict our artists' commitment to social documentary.

Opens: February 22
Closes: March 26

The eThekwini Municipality is committed to improving quality of life. To this end, households in traditional dwellings, townships, informal settlements and in suburbs have been researched since 1998 in order to understand what a good quality life means to the residents of the Durban Metropolitan Area.

As a companion to the research, artists have been commissioned to visually demonstrate some of the findings and issues resulting from the research in an easily accessible and visual way. The artworks have been used to illustrate a comprehensive manual which presents the findings of research in an interesting and viewer-friendly manner. The Durban Art Gallery will host the exhibition of the original artworks in conjunction with the launch of the research findings manual.

Among the artworks commissioned include ceramic relief sculpture panels and puppet heads by Wendy Nel, cartoons and line illustrations by Dan Sheldon, line drawings by Sabelo Vilane, doorways by Doung Anwar Jahangeer, and photographs by Ben Haskins, Gisele Turner, Thomas Ferreira, Peter Bendheim, Prakash Bhikha and staff at iTrump.

Opens: February 22
Closes: March 19

Petros Ghebrehiwot's 'Secrecy of Shelters' precedes the artist's Master's exhibition at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg. The main focus of his work is the internal and external spaces of shelters, especially the silent internal spaces, which contain many mysteries that people experience in their daily lives. In the works, Ghebrehiwot keeps these spaces dark and unexposed in order to suggest the mystery of both good and bad deeds that take place inside the shelters.

Also part of this exhibition are constructed ceramic sculptures based on architectural themes from imagination. These sculptures are models for many of his paintings. In them, there are features of present technological advancements mixed with antique characteristics. Some works for instance, incorporate biological structures such as viruses and DNA, as well as structures of spacecraft and planets. Viruses, besides their interesting structures, are parasites and cannot live without the host cell. This suggests that it is difficult to maintain life without shelters.

Petros Ghebrehiwot is an artist from Eritrea who currently resides in Pietermaritzburg.

Opens: 6.30pm, February 27
Closes: March 11

Selected works from the 'Unsettled: 8 South African Photographers' exhibition curated by Mads Damsbo in conjunction with the Museum of Photography in the Royal Library, Copenhagen will be on view at the Durban Art Gallery until April 30. The exhibition was created in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the ending of apartheid in South Africa.

The works from the exhibition will be shown at Durban Art Gallery in two parts. The first, entitled 'Chapter One', features works by photographers Santu Mofokeng and Guy Tillim. 'Chapter Two', featuring works by David Goldblatt, Jodi Bieber, Nontsikelelo Veleko, Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, will be on view from March to April 2006.

The images explore transformations in the new South Africa, from optimism and solidarity to the ever-present tensions, conflicts and challenges.

Opens: January 1
Closes: April 30

Fur, Fish, and Feathers is an exhibition of oil paintings by Durban-based artist Coral Spencer Domijan. Although there is no overall theme governing the works, the exhibition reflects the artist's passion for the use of composition and light. This is Spencer Domijan's third solo exhibition at artSPACE durban.

Opens: 6.30pm, January 16
Closes: February 4

The 2006 KZNSA Members' Exhibition features of a wide range of work created by members of the KwaZulu-Natal Society of the Arts. This year's theme is 'Portraiture' and includes work by established and emerging artists alike, providing the chance for all KZNSA members to showcase their creative talents. Major exhibiting artists include Andrew Verster, Aidan Walsh, John Smith and Marianne Meijer.

Opens: January 24
Closes: February 12

Foursome is an exhibition of paintings by Durban artists Di Maroun, Marlene Wasserman, and Sharon Zoepke, all of whom are taught painting by Pascal Chandler who exhibits alongside her students.

Chandler explores identity, ownership, fragility and impermanence in her work. Maroun's works explore notions of identity and history, derived from her father's passion for African culture and history and her British mother's experience thereof. Her works explore and diarise her life at Fugitive's Drift and serve to highlight the importance of documenting and preserving history for future generations.

Opens: 6.30pm, February 6
Closes: February 25

Numerous artworks in the Tatham Art Gallery's collection seldom, or in some cases, never see the light of day. The aim of this exhibition is to unearth some of these hidden treasures from the basement storage. This exhibition will focus largely on black and white works, mainly graphic prints that span the whole history of the collection, with an emphasis on the earlier works in the collection.

Opens: December 14
Closes: February 5