2.06.06 'Humanist Art, Symbolic Sites' at the Durban Art Gallery
2.06.06 Peter Magubane at the Durban Art Gallery
2.06.06 'Ubuntu - Striving for Life and Peace' at the Durban Art Gallery
2.06.06 'Visual Trajectories - Art from India' at the Durban Art Gallery
2.06.06 Lorraine Goss-Ross at artSPACE durban
2.06.06 Dale Grobler at artSPACE durban
2.06.06 'Start: The Nivea Art Awards' at the KZNSA
2.06.06 'Five Artists/ Five Directions' at the KZNSA
2.06.06 'Portrait of a Pioneer: Joseph Forsyth-Ingram' at the Tatham Art Gallery
2.06.06 'Treasures from the Dungeon: R.H. Whitwell Collection' at the Tatham Art Gallery

5.05.06 Peter Machen at the KZNSA
5.05.06 Jill Trappler at the KZNSA
5.05.06 Botanical Arts Association of Southern Africa at the KZNSA
5.05.06 Ceasar Mkize and Thafa Dlamini at the African Art Centre
5.05.06 'The Indian in Drum in the 1950s' at the Durban Art Gallery
 

The Durban Art Gallery celebrates humanity in the midst of complex issues in the exhibition titled 'Humanist Art, Symbolic Sites'. This exhibition of prints and photographs from the archives of Humanist Art in Melbourne, Australia includes works by artists from all over the world. It has been shown in Guernica, Spain, Portadown and West Belfast, Northern Ireland, and comes from Kent State Museum, USA to the Durban Art Gallery.

Jean Druesedow from the Kent State Museum says, 'The artists who created these 29 questioning, challenging and moving images of humanist art all took a principled stand. Some have been imprisoned for their beliefs; others have been or remain in exile. their works speak of love, tragedy, reconciliation, environment, community, hope and peace in a diverse world. They speak of values that must be discussed and reconfirmed by each generation. 'Symbolic Sites' features images of places where rebellion, unjust war, violation of human rights or political oppressions were experienced first-hand and led to greater understanding. The images of these sites live in the collective memory of their own and other cultures.'

Opens: June 6
Closes: July 2

'Madiba Man of Destiny', an exhibition of photographs by renowned photographer Dr. Peter Magubane, will coincide with 'Striving together for Life and Peace' the 16th World Council of YMCAs in Durban.

This exhibition captures the life of Nelson Mandela, encapsulating a man who has played a critical role in the establishment of a democratic South Africa. It captures moments in history that give the viewer a glimpse of Madiba as a man of destiny, interacting with ordinary citizens, his family, high profile political figures and also features significant political events. Different events reflecting the history of South Africa and experiences of South Africans during and after the apartheid era are featured and the exhibition reads like a narrative revealing the oppression, the struggle and victory of all South Africans reflected through the life of Madiba.

This exhibition was curated by the Roodeport Museum and began its tour at the Orlando East Community Hall in Soweto as part of the events that marked the conferment of Freedom of the City of Johannesburg to Madiba in July 2004.

Opens: June 14
Closes: July 30

In tandem with 'Madiba Man of Destiny', the Durban Art Gallery presents a cameo exhibition titled 'Ubuntu - Striving for Life and Peace'. Some of the artists on exhibition include Thami Mnyele, Eric Mbatha, Mzwakhe Jacob Nhlabati, Mpolokeng Raymond Ramphomane and Vincent Baloyi.

'Ubuntu - Striving together for Life and Peace' is the conference theme of the 16th World Council of YMCA's meeting in Durban in July. Notions of ubuntu are enshrined in the Zulu maxim 'umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu' or 'a person is a person through (other) persons'. During the 1970s and 1980s the YMCAs were locations of convergence and synergy in the art-centre networks of South African artists.

The YMCA's key principles of striving for the spiritual, intellectual and physical well being of individuals, as well as wholeness of communities, served to strengthen the artist's sense of personal and communal development in a racially unjust South Africa. One such artist was Thami Mnyele who shunned the mainstream gallery system and showed his work at the Dube YMCA, Soweto, in September 1977 on an exhibition titled 'A New Day'. Mnyele was an artist activist who died in the cross-border raid on Gaberone in 1985.

Opens: June 14
Closes: July 30

This exhibition is a manifestation of the agreement on cultural cooperation between the governments of the Republic of South Africa and India, with Iziko South African National Gallery (SANG) and the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in New Delhi as nodal agencies. The exhibition, curated from the permanent collection of the NGMA will be shown in Cape Town, Pretoria and Durban in 2006 and an exhibition from the Iziko SANG collection, curated by Hayden Proud, will travel to three cities in India from 2007. The intention of this exchange is to create a deeper understanding of our histories and our art. Says director of the NGMA, Rajeev Lochan: 'The confluence of tradition and personal aspects of representation intermingle intelligently in the exhibition 'Visual Trajectories' to produce a unique and distinctive pictorial language that documents and marks the evolution of visual arts in India during the last 150 years, through the works of some of the most outstanding artists of that period. Opening with the confluence of British Indian Art and the prevailing taste, reflecting a past that both India and South Africa have shared, the exhibition also accords due notice to the unknown Indian artists of the 19th century.'

This exhibition documents some of the leading schools of thought since the early 20th century. Beginning with the Bengal school's fascination with Indian history and myth, it traces broadly the leading engagements of Indian art, as well as the quest for modernism and use of an abstract language in the 1960s and 70s. The exhibition presents the artist's adaptation to abstraction with distinct western and Indian elements. 'Visual Trajectories' also highlights some of the contentious issues that art has raised or sought to resolve in the contemporary period.

Opens: June 21
Closes: July 23

In an exhibition titled 'Rocktalk', artist Lorraine Goss-Ross exhibits paintings at artSPACE durban. The exhibition is to be opened by John Roome.

Opens: 6.30pm, June 5
Closes: June 24

Artist Dale Grobler showcases a body of work in the exhibition 'Through my Eyes'. His black and white photographs can be described as an intimate reflection of his world and his relationship to that world.

Opens: 6.30pm, June 5
Closes: June 24

In a collaboration that seeks to create a platform for development in the field of visual art here in KwaZulu-Natal, the KZNSA Gallery together with their partners Biersdorf present 'Start: The Nivea Art Awards'.

In its second year 'Start' selected 20 finalists from a pool of entries solicited from all over KwaZulu-Natal. These 20 were commissioned to produce work that will go on display at the KZNSA Gallery for judging.

The competition awards three prizes annually, the first prize being R20 000, the second R10 000 and the third R5 000. The commissioned artists worked closely with the judges and were required to submit three progress reports before presenting the final artwork. This year's judges include Sfiso KaMkame, Storm Janse van Rensburg, Juliet Armstrong, Anthea Martin, Gabi Nkosi and Nathi Gumede.

Opens: June 27
Closes: July 16

Five artists rooted in mutual respect for each other's work have put together an exhibition titled: 'Five Artists/ Five Directions'. All five lecture at the Centre for Visual Art at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg. Vulindlela Nyoni, Michelle Stewart, Ian Calder, Juliet Armstrong and Terence King embarked on a journey that will bring the biggest group exhibition to come out of Pietermaritzburg in many years.

King's work comprises a suite of six figurative paintings. These are principally torsos placed frontally against designed domestic objects or alongside ancient wall markings. Juliet Armstrong teaches ceramics and has specialised in the making of high fired bone china. She is interested in the delicate translucency when the forms she makes are shown against a strong light. Her sculptures are based on Zulu pregnancy aprons or isibodiya worn by women in the rural areas to protect their unborn child.

Vulindlela Nyoni teaches printmaking and his work explores various emotions and experiences that relate to a latent sense of mortality in human behaviour. Michelle Stewart lectures in painting and animation and in her work explores figurative representations of power and identity.

Ian Calder's painted and sculpted ceramic vessels reflect his thoughts on life and identity within the locale of KwaZulu-Natal.

Opens: June 27
Closes: July 16

The Tatham Art Gallery is hosting an exhibition of works by Joseph Forsyth Ingram (1862 - 1923). The exhibition comprises five paintings by Ingram completed between 1910 and 1923. Also included in the exhibition will be examples of Ingram's poetry, books, decorated letters and envelopes and Christmas albums.

Forsyth-Ingram was a Magistrate in Dundee, Howick and Pietermaritzburg while remaining a prolific artist and writer. This exhibition features a number of his paintings as well as archival and biographical material that would be of great interest to the residents of Pietermaritzburg. A number of the works on exhibition are being donated by Forsyth-Ingram's descendants to the Tatham Art Gallery.

Opens: May 4
Closes: This exhibition has been extended until the renovations for the new Gallery Craft Shop commence

The 'Treasures from the Dungeon' exhibition was on display during December, but due to public demand has been extended.

The exhibition unearths a number of works donated by Colonel R.H. Whitwell between 1923 and 1926. Whitwell's donation comprised of over 400 works that are mainly by British and French artists. Included are works by Charles Isaac Ginner, Charles Maurice, Edward Julius Detmold, Edward Frank Giller, George du Maurier, Sir Frank Brangwyn and others. Also on display are Moorcraft ceramics, with tudric pewter stands and silver works based on Celtic designs by George Connell.

Opens: June 13
Closes: August 27

Peter Machen is known to the Durban public for his arts writing and criticism. Having written for a number of publications over the years Machen, is now gaining a considerable reputation as a visual narrator.

'The Corduroy Man' consists of words and images, and is in a sense a documentary. Documentary usually involves something external to the artist or photographer, but in this particular exercise, which has been underway for more than 10 years, Machen documents his own consciousness.

He says, 'I have long been convinced, through reading, observation and the processing of simple thoughts, that it is subjectivity and not objectivity that is the pathway to universality. The verbal fragments and often blurry and impressionistic visuals of "The Corduroy Man" give a clearer view of my own consciousness than careful scripting and perfect focus ever could.'

Opens: 6pm, May 15
Closes: June 4

Cape Town based artist, Jill Tappler's exhibition 'This is where we meet' opens at the KZNSA on May 16. The exhibition explores the 'in between space' or intermediate region where we people meet. The artist uses paint, canvas and paper to achieve this.

As Tappler explains, 'The transformation of raw material into cloth and its transformation into clothing, (leather, silk, appliqué, weaving, ikat) all carry a tiny content of the people engaged in their creation and the people who wear them. They suggest another time and place, other lives lived, a reality carried by their patterns, textures and colours.'

Opens: May 16
Closes: June 4

'Stretching the Strelitzia' involves only one species of plant, the strelitzia reginae'. Invited artists have been encouraged to experiment with media such as pen and ink, woodcut, scrapper board, collage and photography in their depiction of this plant. Participants include Lindsay Bush, Pascale Chandler, Peter Bendheim, Ros Sarkin and Ingrid Lotter.

Opens: May 16
Closes: June 4

Beaded sculptures by Ceasar Mkhize and Thafa Dlamini will be on exhibition at the African Art Centre from May 17. The sculptures take the form of animals, insects, birds and mythical creatures. Mkhize and Dlamini's works were shown on 2002's 'Untold Tales of Magic: Abelumbi' at the Durban Art Gallery and selected for the 2004 Brett Kebble exhibition. Five of their standing angels were chosen to decorate the judges' chambers at the New Constitutional Court in Johannesburg.

Opens: May 17
Closes: June 4

'The Indian in Drum in the 1950s' was conceived to restore the lived historical memory through striking images taken by some of the most outstanding photographers of the decade. It explores an unofficial Indian history in South Africa that confronts clichés of the homogenous Indian symbolised by the 'rich Indian shopkeeper', that was propagated by the apartheid régime to project a middle class 'non-European' society to missions abroad, with images of unemployment in Cato Manor and child labour on the sugar farms in Natal.

Photographs include that of Amaranee Naidoo, a shy Indian woman who rode a motorcycle on the 'Wall of Death', and Benny Singh, described as the 'father of non-European boxing' who is depicted in his Durban gym with prodigy Baby Batter whom he later promoted in Britain.

The exhibition articulates a broader, more intricate South African 'fifties culture that extends beyond the borders of effervescent Sophiatown. Victoria and Grey Streets, 'Durban's little Chicago', and the ghettoes of Cato Manor in Durban and Newclare in Johannesburg tell a different story. The story of Sheriff Khan for instance, described as South Africa's Al Capone of the 1950s, contests the dominance of Kort Boy and The Americans in Sophiatown. Further, it acknowledges the talent of photographers such as G.R. Naidoo, Ranjith Kally, Naransamy and Barney Desai who captured these images.

The rest of the exhibition expands on this rich past with cinema owners in Fordsburg, pin-up models, trapeze artists, the seine net fishing community, ballroom dancers and modern Indian women shaking off a more traditional past, evidence of a more tangible multi-faceted South African Indian history than has thus far been represented.

Opens: May 24
Closes: July 23