The experiential and narrative aspects of the arts can fundamentally shift how we act on the climate change crisis by transforming meaning, not just delivering facts | When the water crisis threatens the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa, one of Earth’s earliest homes of modern humans, facts alone wont shift our behaviour. Across the world, we already know the science, yet we fail to act. South African artist Johan Thom shows how the arts can change what water, soil, and survival actually mean to us. Drawing on personal history, Darwin’s ideas, and years of artistic experimentation, he reveals how beauty, choice, and imagination shape the core decisions that determine our collective future. While the sciences may diagnose the problem, the arts help us feel and experience our changing world in different ways, reminding us that meaning, not data, drives human action | South African artist Johan Thom works across performance, video, and installation to probe the human condition in a changing world. As curator of the forthcoming Soil & Water exhibition at NIROX, he brings artists together to engage with ecology, resilience, and our shared climate future. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
Posted in News | Tagged Art, art and beauty, art and evolution, beauty, Climate Change, Contemporary Art, Darwin, Johan Thom, Nirox Foundation, tedx, tedxjohannesburg, water crisis |
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TEDx Johannesburg presentsCOUNTDOWN25 October 2025 TEDxJohannesburg Countdown reimagines what a TEDx experience can be. Focused on accelerating climate action, this two-day journey begins in the vibrant energy of Sandton and culminates in the tranquil beauty of NIROX Sculpture Park in the Cradle of Humankind. Day 2, at NIROX, unfolds in nature’s calm, where TEDx talks, performances, and creative activations will ignite ideas for a better, greener, and more resilient future. Grounded in South African realities, shaped by Global South perspectives, and tuned to planetary frequencies, this gathering will spotlight local solutions with global power. It forms part of a worldwide drumbeat toward two major climate moments: the G20 climate meetings in Johannesburg and COP30 in Belém, Brazil. As one of only 18 TEDx events globally selected as an official TED Countdown Anchor, we carry forward the energy of the Countdown Summit recently held in Nairobi and bring it into a uniquely South African, globally connected context. We are proud to hold this moment with care and courage. Speakers Crispian OliverShaping climate leadership Lebogang MulaisiChampioning workers in a changing climate Clyde MallinsonModelling a renewable future Viaksha MohabirSouth Africa in global energy futures Leanne Emery-HunterFinancing resilience Gamuchirai MutezoTurning waste into energy Taylen ReddyYouth for environmental justice Tebogo MakhubelaAncient clues to climate futures Charles Mpofu Cranes as wetland sentinels Steve CarverSeeds of resilience Jen Van Den BusscheDignity in water and sanitation Sifiso GumbiFrom waste picker to pioneer Leonie JoubertStories of climate change Nokulinda MkhizeAncestral wisdom, future balance Johan ThomThe art of meaning, Soil & Water Performances Christophe Fellay & Thulisile Binda Rhythms of a fragile planet Oupa Sibeko Inland Ocean Music by Muneyi Itai Hakim Gates open at 10h00on Saturday, 25 October |
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To a greener, fairer, thriving future. |
| NIROX is a private not-for-profit foundation to benefit the arts All income is used to maintain the grounds, the artist residency programme, and artist support. NIROX Foundation is dedicated to bringing exceptional cultural experiences to the world through commitment to quality programming and artistic innovation aiming to enrich lives and foster a deeper appreciation for the arts in all its forms.No food, drinks, pets, gazebos, cooler boxes or sporting equipment may be brought into the park. No camping chairs or beach umbrellas may be brought into the amphitheatre; Hay bales will be provided for seating; picnic blankets and sun-hats are recommended Entry and use of the facilities is entirely at the visitor’s own riskNIROX has no responsibility for injury or loss of any kind, howsoever arising For more information, including updates on the concert program and featured artists, visitwww.niroxarts.com.NIROX lies in the Kromdraai Valley, which is expanding for visitors’ enjoyment and local community development with diverse initiatives, including: The Villa-Legodi Centre for Sculpture at NIROX The Kromdraai Impact Hub, creative residency for collaboration and social impactand Farmhouse58, Accommodation PartnerFor further informationvilla-legodi.com kromdraai hub.com farmhouse58.co wellness58.com |
Posted in News | Tagged Art, climate-change, environment, News, tedx |
NIROX is pleased to present new and recent works by South African artist Johan Thom, exploring the material relationship between the tactile, time, and (negative) space.
The exhibition is structured in two parts, split across two venues. Held in NIROX’s residency workshop, part one includes a recent installation — Time after Time (2023) — in which an automated brick and bronze skull constantly rotate, narrowly missing each other. Across the road, at the Kromdraai Impact Hub, Thom presents three new works: Will you still be mine? (The weight of body in ice), a large photograph documenting his performance at Casa Wabi, Mexico, earlier this year; Dwell (the weight of my body as a brick), produced in collaboration with Modern Art Projects South Africa (MAPSA); and LH+RH+LHRH (Grasp), a major installation of over a thousand individual clay forms.
Dwell is a large replica of a red building brick, such is commonly used for the construction of homes, shelters, and buildings in South Africa. Made to the weight of the artist, it is a deceptively complex minimalist gesture in which the body is shown to be a contested, uneasy home — at once a space of ‘dwelling’ (of knowing and being) whilst also forming part of the skewed spatio-political and economic organisation of the contemporary South African landscape.
In turn, LH+RH+LHRH (Grasp) (2024) is a site-specific installation that gives three- dimensional form to the negative space generated by ‘grasping’ a lump of clay. The result is an overwhelming number of near alien, bone-like fragments, arranged in three minimalist, 10 x 3m rectangular grids.
In keeping with the context of the Cradle of Humankind, this arrangement is reminiscent of the anthropological/archeological sites nearby. Here, the act of grasping becomes a metaphor for that which remains unknown or undiscovered, suggesting that the tactile and material remain largely dormant, fecund repositories for rethinking our partial knowledge of the world.
RSVP: sven(at)niroxarts.com
The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication, with essays by Dr Sikho Siyotula (Research Associate, UP), Dr. Wayne Binitie (Associate Lecturer, Camberwell College of Art, London) and Sven Christian (Curator, NIROX), published by the Villa- Legodi Center for Sculpture in partnership with UJ Press. Also included in the exhibition is “Grasp (Fragment),” an educational kit developed for the tactile exploration and teaching of sculpture, in collaboration with Prof. Jenni Louwrens (Associate Professor in Visual Studies, School of the Arts, UP), The student Gallery at the Javett UP, the Claire & Edoardo Villa Will Trust and the Villa-Legodi Center for Sculpture. The artworks on exhibition have been generously supported by a number of organisations: NIROX Foundation; Villa-Legodi Center for Sculpture; Modern Art Projects South Africa; Casa Wabi, Mexico; The National Research Foundation of South Africa; The School of the Arts, University of Pretoria; Kalashnikovv Gallery
Figure details: Johan Thom, Will you still be mine (Del Mar#1), photographic production still form a performance in Casa Wabi, Mexico, 2024 (Sizes: 210 x 110cm).
Posted in News | Tagged African art, Art, Casa Wabi Foundation, ceramics, Contemporary Art, Johan Thom, Nirox Foundation, Performance art, Sculpture, South African art |
One night mid 2005 I crawled over the Nelson Mandela Bridge into the heart of the city of Johannesburg for a durational performance. I was accompanied by the artist Christian Nerf who hosted me for a 24 hour residency at the now defunct City and Suburban Studios. Barefoot and wearing only old jeans, I also covered myself with an cheap blanket that had been torn apart by dogs. I slowly entered the Johannesburg CBD like so many of the city’s unseen citizens would – with nothing. It was literally freezing (0 degrees centigrade) that night and fearing frostbite I nearly gave up a few times. But by midnight I finally made it to the other side of the bridge. It took over two hours to complete the action.
The work was never exhibited or made public until now. I do so now in honor of the artist Wiliam Pope L. who sadly passed away on 23 December this year. He was a great inspiration to me and, in particular, this artwork was made in response to his crawling pieces of the 1970’s. Like in many of Pope’s crawling pieces I carried an object in one hand, a video camera in my case. The camera stopped recording after 12min 26sec.
Rest in piece William, your work mattered.
Video still: ‘Crawling (The city of gold)’, 2005, Johan Thom. #art#contemporaryart#williampopel#performanceart#africanart#contemporaryperformanceart#crawling#southafricanart
Posted in News | Tagged African art, contemporary African art, Contemporary Art, Contemporary South African Art, Performance art, South African art, William Pope L. |
The Centre for Asian Studies in Africa and the Visual Arts Division at the University of Pretoria present ‘Unhoused Memories’ at the Javett-UP – a creative collaboration between acclaimed poet Sudeep Sen (India) and visual artist Johan Thom (South Africa).
Please join us for an afternoon of readings, short-film screenings, live-art, discussion & book-signing.
Venue: The Javett-UP Auditorium
Date: Thursday 11 May 2023
Time: 14:30-15:30
For this talk Sudeep Sen, the globally-acclaimed author, will read poems from his latest book, Anthropocene (Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize winner) and his two books-in-progress, The Whispering Anklets and Red. Sen is currently the international fellow & writer / artist-in-residence at the Nirox Foundation in South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind. [www.sudeepsen.org]
Johan Thom is Associate Professor and Coordinator of Fine Art, School of the Arts, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria. Thom holds a PhD in Fine Arts from The Slade School of Fine Arts (UCL) on a Commonwealth Scholarship. Thom works across a variety of media including sculpture, video, performance, drawing, printmaking and photography and has exhibited extensively – both locally and globally.
[https://johanthom.com/]
Thom and Sen are currently collaborating on producing creative responses to each others’ works through the use of text, video, recorded sound and live performance.
Javett-UP Auditorium, Thursday, May 11, 2023 | 2:30pm
RSVP: Email: connect@javettup.com or bookings@javettup.com | Telephone: +27 (0)12 420 3960
Posted in News |
I am exhibiting works as par of FNB Art Joburg Fair (https://artjoburg.com) in South Africa with Kalashnikovv Gallery (https://kalashnikovv.com/). A large-scale installation, ‘Houseboat #2’ (shown below) and a single related bronze work ‘Masked’ (also shown below).
In Houseboat#2 the form of the boat/ vessel is synonym for an expanded definition of the home. Here the home is understood as a space of dwelling that, other than a permanent brick and mortar built structure, moves through the world as a provisional, ever-changing form. This construction is as much a physical extension of my body as it is a site and a vessel through which I traverse the world even as I negotiate my sense of belonging as part thereof. Houseboat #2 is made from pine wood, a widely available and non-permanent means of sculptural construction. Materially speaking pinewood is light and easily shaped or joined together. It is typically used for building applications such as roof trusses, fences, decks and other non – or – semi-permanent structures. As such it is an ideal means to materially expand the self (the body, the psyche) into a number of aesthetic forms that are always only provisional even though they appear fixed or permanent.
For Houseboat #2 I have mounted a small museum-style display cabinet near the stern of the vessel. The cabinet is filled with a found collection of 35mm photographic slides comprising visuals materials (such as examples of artworks, architecture, design) all related to the teaching of undergraduate modules in Art History and Visual Studies at the University of Pretoria. Questions of belonging, of changing technology and of decolonial thoughts about art and art education in our current context are all brought to bear upon one another.
This piece simply called ‘Masked’ (2020) also showing with Kalashnikovv Gallery as part of FNB Art Joburg. In plain terms a portrait of Nelson Mandela cast in bronze and patinaed, standing slightly larger than life-size at 30 x 20 x 16cm. A work in dialogue with the artwork Houseboat #2.
The mask may be understood as a discarded object found as part of the journey into the archive of our collective memories. The piece was made by modeling the face in clay, casting it in wax form and then partially covering the wax with South African newspaper clippings dating from 1994 & a sisal rope netting. During the process the wax and final bronze cast slowly became distorted. This is a normal part of the casting process but here I think it closely analogous to the way in the archive becomes distorted, deteriorating materially and taking on new, often unintended meanings as we engage with it.
Most importantly for me the net is actually the mask here (i.e the tools by which we interact with archival items), a form of layering that simultaneously obscures and enables meaning. The more straightforward reading of the recognizable face as mask (Mandela) refers to an artwork by Kendell Geers, ‘Portrait of the artist as a young man’ (1993) that, in keeping with questions raised in Houseboat 2, formed a part of my art education. Despite such readings on my part, I do think that today for many South Africans the legacy of Nelson Mandela is an immensely complex matter. More to the point, his image, the face and the surface of the thing, may function as a means of masking, of ritually hiding behind as people advance their particular agendas in the nasty carnival that is contemporary South African politics. And I choose my words carefully here to invoke the writings of Achille Mbembe, in particular his thoughts on the role and function of ritual in the postcolony, the intimacy of tyranny that form part of our daily lives.
Posted in News | Tagged archives, Art, artmuseums, contemporary African art, Contemporary South African Art, decolonial, fnbartjoburg2020, wunderkamer |
New World Order
A special project curated by Johan Thom
Featuring the artists:
Sharlene Khan, Johan Van der Schijff, Fabian Saptouw, Avi Sooful, Willem Boshoff, Diane Victor, Jacob Van Schalkwyk, Gordon Froud, Minnette Vári, Frikkie Eksteen, Rat Western, Reshma Chhiba, Cow Mash (Kgaogelo Mashilo), Brent Meistre & Jan Van Der Merwe.
VIP Preview – 27 August 2020 18h00 | Public Opening 28 August 2020 09h00
Curatorial Statement
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic the world itself seems to be on the brink of global change. Grand ideas and conspiracies abound as we grapple daily with the anxiety of the global impact of a raging pandemic. This is compounded by the force of the myriad social injustices and political failures that seem to have the ability to touch and deeply impact all of our lives – whether by social media, global news or even personal experience. Though much of the media focus has been on the economic, social and political changes that await us all once the dust settles, the question of what role art may play in a changed, post-Covid world still requires careful consideration by artists, critics and art patrons alike.
The works of art exhibited collectively as part of ‘New world order’ embody a critical way of thinking about art and its role in a possible future. However this is no grand utopian exercise but, rather, a close focus on the artistic practice of selected South African artists who critically engage the world of art whilst being deeply involved in academia too. In this regard I turn to the voices who will guide the new generation of artists who will live and practice in a post-Covid world. In this way the exhibition serves as a critical platform that seeks to highlight and interrogate a variety of aesthetic approaches, forms of creative practice and rigorous, critical thinking about the role of art and art education in the milieu of an ever-changing South African society.
Throughout South Africa’s history many of our arts educators have been nationally and internationally esteemed artists, including such luminaries as Walter Battiss (1906-1982), Bill Ainslie (1934-1989), Cecil Skotnes (1926-2009) Colin Richards (1954-2012), Susan Sellschop (1941-2017), David Koloane (1938-2019), Ingrid Stevens (1952-2019) and many others. Today many of South Africa’s most respected artists still call academia ‘home’ in one form or another.
Each artwork included on New World Order should be viewed as a unique opportunity to engage with the work of an artist as the very embodiment of their research concerns, the particularity of their artistic voice and the manner in which these values congeal as an artistic methodology in the artwork itself. Perhaps more than that, given the seriousness with which these artists approach their work (artistically, pedagogically), we may find therein if not exactly a clear plan for the future, a particular aesthetic, political and cultural vision thereof. This artistic vision is shaped as much by the ongoing struggle against the harsh realities of our present moment as by the possibility of serious artistic practice to unearth the numerous unexplored and even surprising possibilities that may help define tomorrow. In this sense the exhibition New World Order is underpinned by a decidedly hopeful premise.
#RMBTAF #RMBTAF2020 #RMBTurbineArtFair #RMBTAF20 #TAF20 #TAF #TAFOnline
Posted in News | Tagged #RMBTAF, #RMBTurbineArtFair, #TAF20, Art, Artists, contemporary African art, Contemporary South African Art, exhibitions, South African art |
Speech act #2. Performance last August at the Association of Arts for Drawing Conclusions II curated by Diane Victor. For the work I read excerpts from texts out of my personal diaries for the period of 2009-13 whilst standing on an old portrait created with flour on the floor. The piece is a meditation on the materiality of memory and its artifacts. (Photograph by Carla Crafford).
Houseboat #1. 2019. Wood, glass, Material One, glass and mixed media Sizes: 230cm x 300 cm x 205cm
‘Missing: Selfportrait as an ass asleep in my son’s bed’ 2019. Photographic inkjet print on Hannemeule 2/3 (Edition of 3 and one artist proof) 50 cm x 65 cm Photo Credit: Garreth Fradgley
Posted in News | Tagged African art, Africanart, Art, Artists, installation, Johan Thom, performance, Performance art, Photography, Poetry, public art, Sculpture, South Africa, Visual Art |
This year lecturers and artists from the Department of Visual Art at the University of Pretoria made a huge splash at Aardklop. Dr Johan Thom, Senior lecturer in Fine Art was for the second year running the head visual arts curator for Aardklop. Other lecturers and past alumni from Fine Arts whose works were showcased as part of the visual arts program include Diane Victor, Avi Sooful, Shenaz Mahomed and alumni such as Angus Taylor and Cazlynne Peffer.
Figure 1: Installation view: ’14 Stations of the Cross’ by Diane Victor. Photo Credit: J. Thom
Curator Dr Johan Thom conceived the visual arts program under the collective title of ‘Spoke Diewe en Digters’. The program was conceptualised in relation to the complex history of Afrikaans as a poetic language, one indelibly shaped by a persistent undercurrent of creative, often anti-establishment practices and thoughts. The life and work of figures such as Eugene Marais, the ‘sestigers’ (including Breyten Breytenbach, Etienne Le Roux, Adam Small and Ingrid Jonker) and even more recently those of Koos Kombuis and Johannes Kerkorrel served as inspiration for a large-scale exhibition premised upon the exploration of creative process and the contested place of visual art in our contemporary society.
In total seven exhibitions were mounted by Thom across the venues located on the campus of the North-West University during the festival. These include the solo exhibition ‘Skadu en Lig’ by festival artist Diane Victor, the group exhibition ‘A Flood in my hands’ (curated by Aysha Waja), ‘Saamklop’ (a program featuring the work of artist collectives including The Dead Bunny Society, Found Collective and The Centre For The Less Good idea), ‘Degenerative evolution of the living’ by Donald Wassiwa from Uganda (kindly made possible by ABSA), en ‘Die groen grass groei daar om’ a solo exhibition by Liza Grobler. Thom also curated a large-scale group exhibition featuring the work of local and international artists including global superstars such as Marina Abramović, Olu Oguibe, Roger Ballen, Jodi Bieber and many others. Finally a special music programme with Pretoria-based musicians including Bacchus Nel, Die See and Blinkruiter concluded the program with a show filled with poetry and musical ghost stories. The last also included a series of oil portraits of Afrikaans musicians painted by the artist Ronel Kellerman.
The work of this year’s festival artist Diane Victor set the tone for much of the visual arts on display. Victor is perhaps best known for her unflinching depiction of violence and discrimination against women in South African society. Apart from exhibiting a series of new drawings and prints Victor created a site specific installation of fourteen light projections against the walls of a concrete walkway of the auditorium of the Hennie Bingle Student Centre. This ethereal work titled ’14 Stations of the Cross’ was conceived as a pilgrimage of sorts, with each of the fourteen portraits depicting a victim of femicide. In this way viewers could stop at each portrait and meditate before reaching the end of their journey at the top of the staircase.The work was made all the more ghostly as each of the portraits was literally made from smoke on glass through which a bright light then projected the image against the wall. Victor was deservedly awarded best visual arts exhibition at Aardklop 2018 for her efforts.
The festival also provided a rare opportunity to see the work of the veritable grandmother of performance art, Serbian artist Marina Abramović in person at the NWU Art Gallery. For ‘Confession’ (2010), a video loop of sixty minutes, Abramović sits in front of a donkey telling it her deepest, darkest secrets. Amazingly the donkey almost never moves right until the end.
Figure 2: Confession Performance for Video by Marina Abramović, 60 minutes, 2010. © Marina Abramović. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives
Other highlights at the festival this year included ‘Pink and White Flowers’, an installation artwork by Olu Oguibe, made possible by the support of The University of Pretoria and The Nirox Foundation. Oguibe was a recent visitor to the Visual Arts Department of the University of Pretoria where he spoke about his life and work as an internationally renowned artist, scholar and activist. For ‘Pink and White Flowers’ Oguibe made a large-scale installation in the botanical gardens consisting of four thousand petunias stacked together. The work served as a portrait of Nokuphila Kumalo, a young girl who was also a South African victim of femicide. Sadly her mother had no picture of her but could remember that she liked pink and white flowers. Each of the petunias could be taken home by a visitor to the installation thus extending the work beyond the exhibition.
Figure 3: Installation view of ‘Pink and White Flowers’ (2018) at the botanical gardens of the North- West University, South Africa, by Olu Oguibe. Photo credit: J. Thom
Original post here:
Posted in News | Tagged Aardklop, Art, Artists, Diane Victor, Marina Abramović, Olu Oguibe, Roger Ballen, South African art, Visual Art |
Opening: Thursday, 23 March from 18:00 to 20:00
Featuring Lament, a performance by Lizette Chirrime in collaboration with Ledelle Moe, at 19:00
ARTIST FEATURED
Willem Boshoff | Joni Brenner | Marco Cianfenelli | Guy du Toit | Stephan Erasmus | Richard John Forbes | Gordon Froud | Kim Lieberman | Ledelle Moe | Marcus Neustetter | Lwandiso Njara | Brett Rubin | Joachim Schonfeldt | Johan Thom | Sophia van Wyk
Gallery MOMO Cape Town is proud to present (DON’T) LOOK BACK – a group sculpture exhibition, a collaboration between the NIROX Foundation and Gallery MOMO. The exhibition continues NIROX’s commitment to fostering the arts, particularly the development of three-dimensional work, and the artists across the country who have dedicated themselves to their discipline. (DON’T) LOOK BACK explores the practice of constructing form through the medium of sculpture. Featuring work by seventeen sculptors affiliated to NIROX, the exhibition offers a sampling of recent South African sculpture.
Posted in News | Tagged Art, Gallery Momo, Gordon Froud, Joachim Schonfeldt, Joni Brenner, Kim Lieberman, Ledelle Moe, Marco Cianfenelli, Marcus Neustetter, Nirox Foundation, Richard John Forbes, Sculpture, Sophia van Wyk, Stephan Erasmus, Willem Boshoff |
johanthom.com 