On 15 September 1987, African American Nobel laureate and writer, Toni Morrison, sat down with American journalist, Don Swaim. Toni was in the midst of her book tour for the then newly released book, Beloved. The conversation that ensued was a meditation on the brutality of slavery, violence, and the reification of Black life. In her musings, Toni poignantly remarked that, for her, “art is the restoration of order”. “It may discuss all sorts of terrible things,” she continued, “but there must be satisfaction at the end. A little bit of hunger, but also satisfaction.”
This is perhaps an interesting provocation for the 2024 edition of FNB Art Joburg. At the Johannesburg media launch and FNB Art Prize announcement last month, Managing Director of the fair, Mandla Sibeko, spoke extensively about the role art plays in Joburg and on the African continent. “Throughout my many encounters across Africa, I’ve found that Johannesburg is an apt representation of the continent,” he started. “This is in the grit, the relentlessness, the tenacity, and the city’s irreverent energy. I am not alone in this thought. Whether they call it home or frequent the city, the artists, curators, and cultural policy makers that encounter Johannesburg know that it is a city that speaks for the continent.”
With 2024 marking a 30-year milestone in South Africa’s democracy, Mandla continued, “The need to galvanise the relationship between this important city, its people, and their formations has never been more urgent.” This reflection, which ties the city to the rest of the continent, was of particular significance given the rise of xenophobic sentiment that was expressed on digital platforms like X over the last few weeks. Art in many ways, is a useful tool to recalibrate our social order. From 6 – 8 September, FNB Art Joburg returns to the Sandton Convention Centre. The 17th iteration is not only significant in that it comes 30 years into South African democracy, but that it is now also a significant feature of the international art and curatorial landscape. “When this fair was first established in 2008, there were a total of 55 contemporary art fairs in the world. Today, there are more than 250 fairs every year,” remarked Mandla. Seventeen years on, FNB Art Joburg has really shaped the contemporary direction of African art and art markets on the continent.
The fair now takes on an exciting hybrid approach where curatorial and commercial interventions meet, and is divided into seven specialised sections: gallery HUB, gallery LAB, MAX, GIF, ETC, AUX, and ORG sections. These come together in the form of 41 exhibitors, 14 countries, and more than 100 artists represented at the fair. Frequent art goers will be treated to specialised sections like gallery HUB + MAX, which attends to the fair’s objective to be a quality focused fair by including internationally renowned galleries that represent institutionally recognised artists.
New sections, such as the inaugural GIF section, will feature works by photographic stalwarts Alf Khumalo, Ernest Cole, and Peter Magubane. GIF will also feature contemporary reflections of African liberation through inputs from Stevenson, Everard Read, First Floor Gallery Harare X Modzi Arts, Goodman Gallery, Eclectica Contemporary, Luvuyo Equiano Nyawose, and Moyo Oyelolla.
When asked about the introduction of this new section, FNB Art Joburg Fair Manager, Kim Kandan, said, “Photography is a misunderstood medium in the art practices. Many people still call it a new medium, but we actually have a long history of photographic production or lens-based production for fine-art purposes. So, we wanted to spotlight and highlight three legendary photographers who I think are important at this point in time.”
It is notable too, that in celebrating this democratic milestone as an artistic community, Gresham Tapiwa Nyaude is the winner of the 2024 FNB Art Prize. Born and raised in Mbare, Zimbabwe, Gresham’s images oscillate between figuration, abstraction, and hallucination. The artist draws from the restless energy of his neighbourhood and country, where more than 70 percent of the population is under the age of 30. Living on the edge between survival and chaos, his visual messages swing between brutal and sentimental.
This restless energy is not unfamiliar to South Africans as they make sense of their own experiences within their own country. Defying characterisation, Gresham’s work captures a generation’s absurdly relentless drive to attain and maintain dignity and a quality of life that sometimes appears beyond reach.
By winning the FNB Art Prize, Gresham joins previous winners Lindokuhle Sobekwa, Dada Khanyisa, Wycliffe Mundopa, Lady Skollie, Bronwyn Katz, Haroon Gunn-Salie, and Peju Alatise, among others. Outside of the fair, FNB Art Joburg is committed to supporting artists and educating the public. This is done through several initiatives such as the FNB Art Prize exhibition, the BMW Young Collectors Co, and Open City. BMW Young Collectors Co, an educational programme, hopes to address the severed relationship between corporate and contemporary art in South Africa.
In partnership with BrandSA, the fair will host Open City – a city-wide measure to reassert Johannesburg as the continent’s culture capital by taking the ethos of economic stimulation out of the convention centre and into essential hubs across Johannesburg. The city will be activated with art, music, performance, food, and fashion every day of the week for 16 days. In his final remarks to the media, Mandla said, “Art is not for a select few, it is for all of us.” This crucial imperative that connects us all, will provide rich and important artistic interventions at FNB Art Joburg this year.
For more info: https://artjoburg.com/
