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.

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