A New Contemporary Art Museum for Cape Town

A new contemporary art museum is opening in Cape Town in 2017, in the historic Grain Silo at the V&A Waterfront. The museum is expected to cost over R500 million for the development, but from the pictures released so far, it looks like it will be worth every cent! The Grain Silo is a fascinating structure that was built in the early 1920s. Standing at an impressive 57m tall, it is an integral part of the Cape Town skyline. Transforming this structure into a world-class art museum is sure to breathe new life into the beautiful old building.

The Dark Tower Starts Filming in Cape Town
Being a long-time fan of Stephen King, news of The Dark Tower filming in Cape Town is certainly exciting. Described by Stephen King as part western, part Lord of the Rings, this series follows legendary gunslinger-slash-truth-seeker Roland Deschain on his journey to find the Dark Tower. The Wire actor Idris Elba has been cast as Roland, with True Detective star Matthew McConaughey playing the mysterious Walter/Man in Black and Vikings star Katheryn Winnick in a yet-to-be announced role.

1 December 2015 to 15 April 2016 (why not take in this exhibition when undertaking your Robben Island ferry ride when staying at An African Villa)?

The annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition returns, featuring over 100 awe-inspiring images, from animal behaviour to wild landscapes. On certain Wednesday evenings, branded ‘Wildlife Wednesdays’, the exhibition will host a wildlife photographer to present their work and inspire the audience with stories and photographs from the field.

Venue: Chavonnes Battery Museum, Clocktower, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Time: 9am, 11am & 1pm | Wildlife Wednesdays 6pm – 8pm
Cost: R 50 – R 240

Meleko Mokgosi – 21 January to 27 February 2016

A solo exhibition by Meleko Mokgosi titled Comrades, which examines the historical, aesthetic and conceptual links between southern African liberation movements and communism. Venue: Stevenson Gallery, Buchanan Building, 160 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock. Time: Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm | Sat 10am to 1pm | Opening 6pm Cost: Free

The Stevenson is a short taxi ride from An African Villa – if our staff has booked you into The Pot Luck Club nearby this gallery, why not take in the exhibition on the way home?

Celebrating the Lives and Work of South African Artists

Location: South Africa
n National Gallery – walk there from An African Villa and have lunch or tea afterwards at the lovely Company’s Garden Restaurant?

Until September 30, 2016 Studio – Celebrating the Lives and Work of South African Artists

Nandipha Mntambo
Studio brings the notion of the artist’s workspace as a centre of creativity into the very heart of the art museum. An active workspace for young people that complements an exciting display curated from the holdings of the Iziko Art Collections department forms the basis of this initiative. Facilitating an active engagement between art educators and curators, as well as between South African contemporary practice and art history, the project aims at creating a space for learning and fresh visual expression on the part of our South African youth.

Enquiries: Yentl Kohler, Tel. 021 481 3961 or email ykohler@iziko.org.za;
Philippa Coleman, Tel. 021 481 3830 or email pcoleman@iziko.org.za;
Hayden Proud, Tel. 021 481 3965 or email hproud@iziko.org.za

History will Break your Heart by Kemang Wa Lehulere

Location: South African National GalleryFrom: November 19, 2015 To: January 20, 2016 History will Break your Heart by Kemang Wa Lehulere

Another Homeless Song (for RRR Dhlomo)2 2015 Salvaged school desks (steel), gumboots, clay, paint Kemang Wa Lehulere
Kemang Wa Lehulere’s inaugural exhibition, History will Break your Heart, opens at the Iziko South African National Gallery on 19 November. Wa Lehulere is the 2015 winner of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Art.

Kemang Wa Lehulere’s work finds its form in several media, including installation, text, video, drawing and performance. His work engages with the spaces between personal narrative and collective history, between processes of amnesia and archive, all the while transitioning between a dream state and an insomnious reality.

History will Break your Heart is an exhibition that takes its cue from the work of Gladys Mgudlandlu, Ernest Mancoba, RRR Dlomo and Nat Nakasa. Looking at these deceased South African-born artists and writers, Wa Lehulere creates a fractured narrative in an attempt to recall past moments, artworks and literature as a way of rethinking the present. Employing strategies of re-enactment, the exhibition consists of Mgudlandu’s and Mancoba’s work in relation to Wa Lehulere’s.

For exhibition enquiries, contact curator, Ernestine White on Tel. 021 467 7234 or email ewhite@iziko.org.za