JOHANNESBURG – Africa’s leading and longest-running contemporary art fair, FNB Art Joburg, returns for its first in-person presentation since 2019.
The 15th edition will be hosted at the Sandton Convention Centre from 2- 4 September.
“Returning to the Sandton Convention Centre after two years is definitely a highlight, and we look forward to welcoming you all to not only witness the best in contemporary African art, but to engage with the people behind it through our dynamic talks programme,” said FNB Art Joburg managing director Mandla Sibeko.
The all-encompassing programme for the 2022 art fair is curated into six specialised sections. These are the HUB, gallery LAB, MAX, ORG, AUX and ETC.
“We are excited to continue our journey of empowering African artists through FNB Art Joburg. FNB’s 15-year involvement, as a sponsor of the exhibition, demonstrates our commitment to support the creative economy which is an important economic pillar to our economic recovery. Our continent is home to world-class talent and there’s no better platform than FNB Art Joburg to showcase this,” said Head of FNB Brand Experience, Bonga Sebesho.
The HUB, the fair's central section, presents the best in contemporary art from across the continent – in line with the objective to be a quality, rather than quantity-focused, fair.
“Contemporary African art is an integral form of communication. It comments on, archives, and challenges the contexts we live in. Being visual, contemporary African art is a language that we can all listen to and engage with,” Sibeko told Eyewitness News.
Artwork by the 2022 FNB Art Prize winner, Dada Khanyisa. Picture: Supplied.
The MAX section of the fair houses installations or works with challenging scale while the ETC section will give fairgoers the opportunity to engage with master print and publishing houses.
The ORG section is a representation of Johannesburg’s seminal art institutions. Whether museums, universities, or private institutions, the section looks to redefine how people engage with organisations that were established for the good of the public.
“We hope that people see how rich the continent is with talent and that their support of the art industry continues throughout the year. We’re not just a fair where you look at art. We are a broad way of engaging with Johannesburg through its creativity. What we’re trying to do is make sure that our fair becomes the place where people go to for the best African content”said Sibeko.
Spanning talks, public lectures and audio essays, the AUX section will explore a plethora of topics including magic realism as practice, the role of arts writing, and art’s place in the metaverse.
The galleries presenting in the main section of the fair are Afriart Gallery, blank projects, Eclectica Contemporary, Everard Read, First Floor Gallery Harare, Gallery MOMO, Goodman Gallery, Guns & Rain, Kalashnikovv, SMAC Gallery, Stevenson, and WHATIFTHEWORLD.
The ORG section is a representation of Johannesburgs seminal art institutions. Whether museums, universities, or private institutions, the section looks to redefine how people engage with organisations that were established for the good of the public. pic.twitter.com/sQQTLnVFpK
FNB Art Joburg (@FNBArtJoburg) August 22, 2022
“There are far, far more Black people attending gallery openings and engaging with the gallery system than I have ever seen in the last six years. It used to be predominantly white. We would like to not only maintain this audience but grow and develop their interest into patronage”said Sibeko.
In August Dada Khanyisa was announced as the winner of this year’s FNB Art Prize. Khanyisa is a multidisciplinary artist working in paint, sculpture and installation, with a focus on the contemporary Black experience. Their work comments on the human condition as it plays out in social, financial and architectural contexts in metropolises like Johannesburg and Cape Town.
READ: FNB Art Prize feels like a recognition of one's creative efforts – Dada Khanyisa
“My biggest problem was whenever I travelled around the world, I saw the best content that our artists had to provide everywhere else but here. You arrive at the Venice Biennale and there’s this big installation of work by a South African artist like Zanele Muholi but we never get to see it here. How do we move a nation forward and how do you get a nation to move along with Zanele if we don’t showcase their best? Yes we have a challenge of not having a lot of museums, so what do we do? We have to use art fairs for education” said Sibeko.
Artwork from Afropolis exhibition by Cameroonian historian and political theorist Achille Mbembe and South African Associate Professor of Literary and Cultural Studies Sarah Nuttall’s book Johannesburg. Picture: Supplied.
As the winner of the 2022 prize, Khanyisa will have a solo exhibition at Johannesburg Art Gallery where the largest art collection, on the continent, resides.
Ahead of the FNB Art Joburg fair, the public enjoyed Open City which is 15+ days of art, music, performance, food and fashion across the city of Johannesburg. Open City hubs include Rosebank and surrounds, Braamfontein, Newtown, Soweto, Joburg City Centre and 44 Stanley.
“Before the fair starts we also have Open City where we open up the city of Johannesburg with 15+ days of art, music, performance, food and fashion across the city. Our interest in Johannesburg as the continent’s cultural capital has seen us facilitating economic stimulation, inclusivity and better access” said Sibeko to Eyewitness News.
ALSO READ: Open City's 15-day take over highlights the best of Jozi's art & culture scene
OPEN CITY
Today, join Natalie Paneng for a walkabout of her solo exhibition Ophelia Does Backstroke where she brings life to spaces and stories which are said to be lifeless, aiming to create a sense of fantasy.
Location: Play Braamfontein, 68 Juta Street
Time: 13h00 pic.twitter.com/TAGDPQKc2HFNB Art Joburg (@FNBArtJoburg) August 27, 2022
Artmotion S.Africa
