2.06.06 Max Wolpe, Clinton de Menezes and Elmarie Lategan at the AVA
2.06.06 'Distant Relatives/Relative Distance' at Michael Stevenson Contemporary
2.06.06 'Hand of Fatima' at the Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum
2.06.06 Joke van Katwijk at The Photographers' Gallery za
2.06.06 Michael Taylor at what if the world...
2.06.06 Louise Kaye at the Cape Francolin Art Hotel
2.06.06 David Lurie at Bell-Roberts Contemporary

5.05.06 'Details' at Bell-Roberts
5.05.06 Elmarie Costandius at Artb
11.04.06 'Facing the Past' at the SANG
11.04.06 Zapiro at the Old Town House

13.01.06 Woven into Life: Basketry in South Africa at the Castle of Good Hope

THE GRAHAMSTOWN FESTIVAL

2.06.06 Churchill Madikida at the Monument Gallery
2.06.06 'Making Waves: A selection of works from the SABC art collection'
2.06.06 'Figuring Faith: Images of Belief in Africa'
2.06.06 Anton Brink's 'Dogma'
2.06.06 'Comics Brew International'
2.06.06 'Drum in the 70's'
2.06.06 Greg Schültz at the Green Gallery
2.06.06 Dina Zoe Belluigi at the Rhodes School of Art
 

This month in the main gallery at the AVA Durban-based artist Clinton de Menezes will show new works in mixed media. In the long gallery, renowned painter Max Wolpe will exhibit drawings and paintings based on his trip to England, while upstairs, Elmarie Lategan shows her colourful, abstract paintings entitled 'Painting With Light'.

Opens: May 29
Closes:June 15

This month Michael Stevenson presents 'Distant Relatives/Relative Distance', an exhibition featuring contemporary artists from elsewhere in Africa who currently live overseas. In many cases, this will be the first time that works by the artists included will be shown in South Africa.

South Africans share many concerns with these distant relatives, including the prejudice of Western institutions and a common political sphere, yet dialogue between South African and other African artists seldom takes place in this country. Local issues of transformation and representation have occupied the South African art world for the past 15 years. Perhaps as a result, the cities in which the artists on this exhibition practice seem far away.

That distance, however, is relative. In recent years contemporary African art has been the subject of much critical writing and a series of international exhibitions, such as 'The Short Century', 'Authentic/Ex-centric', 'Looking Both Ways', 'A Fiction of Authenticity' and, most recently, 'Africa Remix'. All of these projects showed South Africans alongside other African artists. Taking the term 'distance' more literally, the upcoming exhibition creates an unprecedented physical proximity, giving South African audiences an opportunity to see work by artists they might only know from catalogues.

The artists included on the exhibition are Julie Mehret, Wangechi Mutu, Odili Donald Odita, Senam Okudzeto, Owusu-Ankomah and Barthélémy Toguo.

Opens: June 7
Closes: July 8

'Hand of Fatima', an exhibition of multi-media artworks by Farideh Zariv together with related objects from her collection, opens this month at the Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum.

The Hand of Fatima, an ancient motif in North African and Middle Eastern art and architecture, is rich in meaning. The symbol is also known as khamsa and the 'Eye of Fatima'. The Hand of Fatima symbolises divine protection, freedom and peaceful co-existence with others and has been used in amulets, jewellery and architectural features. Although predating Islam, the symbol has been widely assimilated into Islamic art and popular culture and is still in use today.

The Iranian-Australian artist, Farideh Zariv, bought her first Hand of Fatima in 1990. Her collection has grown to more than 80 pieces originating from Iran, India and all over the Arab speaking world. A selection of pieces from this collection will be on display, as well as multi-media artworks by Zariv that were inspired by the Hand of Fatima.

Opens: June 8
Closes: July 5

The Photographers' Gallery za in association with Galerie Van der Straeten in Amsterdam hosts the first South African solo exhibition for Dutch photographer Joke van Katwijk.

Van Katwijk was born in Holland in 1953 and studied photography in Den Haag and Haarlem. Since 1988 she has worked as a full time artist specialising in lens- based work and more recently also video. Van Katwijk has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe. She is an award-winning photographer and is represented in many private and corporate collections in Holland. 'Hereabouts' comprises a series of images from dreams, utilising a new etching technique which allows her a continuous flow of images onto one sheet of paper.

Opens: June 5
Closes: July 15

This month 'what if the world...' hosts a solo exhibition by irreverent and sloppily trendy Stellenbosch illustrator Michael Taylor, featuring new drawings, paintings, and nonsense pictures entitled 'Who Framed Michael Taylor?'. Taylor showed work on the highly acclaimed 'Drawing Room' shows and recently partook in 'Illustration Nation' also held at what if the world... .

Opens: June 2
Closes: June 24

In 'Room for Change' Louise Kaye, the art hotel's first artist-in-residence, presents a site-specific installation of human-sized wire cage/cocoons accompanied by charcoal drawings of the region, photographic prints and gouaches in a an exhibition addressing the need for social as well as personal change.

Opens: May 28
Closes: July 30

This month Bell-Roberts Contemporary hosts a photographic exploration of Cape Town by renowned photographer David Lurie. The works comprising Lurie's 'Images of Table Mountain' apparently capture Cape Town's diverse socio-economic and cultural sectors through the use of black and white image stills. Each of Lurie's images depicts Table Mountain as a backdrop seen from a range of different perspectives, at times as an image of beauty from Camps Bay Beach or a bleak sight peeking out between shacks. The exhibition will be accompanied by the launch of Lurie's book of the same name at the Cape Town book fair.

Opens: June 21
Closes: July 15

This month Bell-Roberts Contemporary hosts an exhibition of new work by Barbara Jackson, Shirley Fintz and Martine Jackson entitled 'Details'.

Barabara Jackson's pots are inspired by the social and political transformation of South Africa along with the vibrant, ever-changing environment in which she lives. Jackson constantly pushes the use of colour and texture to the extreme, redefining her medium within the ceramic field.

By experimenting with fusing old and new, in both her media and subject matter, Martine Jackson creates one-of-a-kind artworks with decorative elements. Inspired by imagery from her own experiences, a passion for decorating, and her belief in the ability of art methodology to capture moments that have passed, Martine Jackson transforms decoration into art and decorative 'pieces of wall'.

Shirley Fintz's playfully colourful and patterned ceramic sculptures are inspired by the artist's collection of antique toys. She infuses her ceramic sculptures with elements of South African culture, inspired by the colour, textiles, patterns, people, history and future of the country.

Opens: May 24
Closes: June 17

In the vestibule of the Artb gallery Elmarie Constadius exhibits her glass sculpture Conform which plays with the associations the word contains - 'Con' can be seen as deceiving or misleading, and 'form' refers to the shape of the object. Together they become 'Conform' which means to fall into the same mould or become the same shape.

Opens: May 10
Closes: June 7

A decade after the country's Truth and Reconcilliation Commission was established, an exhibition at the Iziko South African National Gallery recognises and reflects on its achievements. The show includes often iconic works by artists such as Steve Hilton-Barber, Rose Kgoete, Kevin Brand and Zwelethu Mthethwa as well as works which 'look to the future' by Given Makhubele and Vuyisani Mgijima among others. All works are from the permanent collection of the Iziko South African National Gallery.

Opens: April 4
Closes: end 2006

Award winning political cartoonist Zapiro, alias Jonathan Shapiro, has long been a household name in South Africa for his biting satire and fluid line.On the back of a major nternational award, 'Sacred Cows Make Large Targets' presents 60 original drawings for published cartoons as well as montages of covers for various books that have been published.

Opens: April 25
Closes: June 11

This exhibition in the Grain Cellar at the Castle of Good Hope intends to reveal the artistry of southern African baskets, paying tribute to the deep environmental knowledge and ways of life of South African basket-makers, past and present. The baskets on display cover a wide range of techniques, uses and regions of origin, collectively reflecting the knowledge and skill of their creators, as well as the beauty to be found in these practical constructions.

Opens: December 20
Closes: July 1

Using a range of contemporary media, incorporating video, photography, and striking live performances, Standard Bank Young Artist for 2006, Churchill Madikida, is known for his rigorous interrogation of Xhosa and South African heritage as a form of self-imagery. His work is autobiographical and, through an engagement with the personal, he seeks to persuade his audience to risk self-examination and change. This exhibition, entitled 'Like Father, Like Son', explores what happens to sons who grow up without their biological fathers, as he did. He spent his youth in and around Butterworth, stuttering so badly he started drawing as a form of communication. He is currently completing an MA in Fine Art at the University of the Witwatersrand.

'Drawing from my own personal experience,' he says, 'these works provide an insight into my struggle to understand how my growing up might have shaped my sense of being, my relationships and even my perception of the worldÖ For me this process included acknowledging and dealing with shortcomings and wrongs of the past and mostly offering forgiveness and moving forward.'

Opens: June 29
Closes: July 8

The SABC has collected art for more than 50 years, forming 'one of the most potent assemblies of work this country has to offer' (Art South Africa). This exhibition, curated by Koulla Xinisteris and drawn from their collection, features around 180 works by more than 100 artists, enabling the viewer to trace the patterns and trends in South African art for almost a century. The work on show ranges from William Timlin and Gerard Bhengu in the 1920s to work by Santu Mofokeng and Robert Hodgins acquired at recent solo exhibitions.

Opens: June 29
Closes: July 8

Curated by Fiona Rankin-Smith with objects from Wits Art Galleries, the Standard Bank Collection of Classical African, Historical and Contemporary South African Art, with inclusions from private collections and other institutions, this exhibition is structured around a number of interpretive themes. These include experiences of worship and ritual, religious clothing, body modification and decoration, ancestor worship, new experiences in death and dying, and the impact of the HIV/Aids epidemic in refashioning faith and religious ceremony. A diverse range of different disciplines and concept manifestations are involved, from small objects used for private devotional purposes to large sculptures used for public preaching. A multi-modal visual experience includes light, sound, film, installation and a selection of new, specifically commissioned artworks.

Opens: June 29
Closes: July 8

Inspired by international events of the past five years (including the bombing of the World Trade Centre, the devastation of Afghanistan and Iraq) this exhibition of oil paintings, mixed media assemblage and installations is an expression of the pain and outrage Anton Brink feels 'as one of millions of powerless individuals at the mercy of the rich and powerful who have subverted democracy to their own advantage'. His stinging critique encompasses 'dogma', which he regards as the comfort zone of Westernised, colonised minds: 'The unscrupulous and incompetent few are kept in power by the apathetic many who seem only too grateful not to have to think or make choices for themselves.'

Opens: June 29
Closes: July 8

'Comics Brew International' shows a collection of work by five leading 'New Generation' comic artists and challenges viewers to read and analyse their creations as literature. The show is part of the bi-annual Festival of International Comic Art in Southern Africa.

Pat Masioni from the Democratic Republic of Congo, has illustrated novels, drawn several religious comics and has several children's titles to his credit. He also contributed to A l'Ombre du Baobab, a collection of comics by African artists about education and health. South African Leonora van Staden is co-editor, publisher and one of two main contributing artists to Stripshow, South Africa's first all-girls comic magazine. Helge Reumann makes wordless strips in an art brut style. Lewis Trondheim is a prolific French artist; both his silent comic La Mouche and Kaput and Zusky have been made into animated cartoons. Maaike Hartjes, from the Netherlands, known for her sketchy doodles, runs a comic studio and works for various magazines and newspapers.

Opens: June 29
Closes: July 8

The exhibition features a number of page spreads from Drum magazine that reflect the state of the country at the time of the Soweto Uprising. Drum magazine established itself at this time as the only authentic black periodical that accurately reflected life from the other side of the racial tracks. Subject matter included politics, crime, showbiz, sport, personalities and human interest. Across Anglophone Africa (where Drum was also published) it provided a unique journalistic record of decolonisation and its aftermath, becoming an important platform for emerging African leaders. From the outset, the magazine set an impressive standard for emerging black journalism, and was a vehicle for many accomplished writers and photographers who could not get published elsewhere.

Opens: June 29
Closes: July 8

Greg Schültz' exhibition 'Presence of Place' presents a new body of work which extends his reassessment of the human relationship with 'nature' and 'landscape'.

Walking in the Kwelera estuary and the East Coast, the artist has collected and bound small objects - mainly sticks - indicating the passing of time, a meditation with nature and the memory of a particular place. These objects are hidden and revealed, bound and free, carved, whittled, inlaid, stained and sealed; souvenirs created at a campsite, river, forest or in the studio, where the memory of the found objects' place occurs and is painted.

Opens: June 29
Closes: July 8

Dina Zoe Belluigi's exhibition 'Unbridled' considers myths, rituals and anxieties around marriage. The exhibition traces a narrative through digital and photographic prints, charcoal drawings and a video piece. While these two-dimensional, primarily digitally-constructed images draw from an individual's experience, they also make extensive references to art history, biblical myths and contemporary life.

Opens: June 29
Closes: July 8