Selected works by Phumulani Ntuli and Thalente Khomo from the ArtBankSA Contemporary Collection
Beyond Walls: Emerging Contemporary Voices, currently on show at Oliewenhuis Art Museum, draws from the ArtBankSA Contemporary Collection to stage an encounter with some of the most urgent enquiries in South African art practice today: questions of intergenerational knowledge transmission, cultural custodianship, contested memory, and the continuous formation of identity.
ArtBankSA commemorates Human Rights Day through the lens of photographer Thando Mama, Izingqi Zesikhumbuzo (2016–2017), housed in ArtBankSA’s contemporary collection
On 21 March 1960, sixty-nine people were killed outside the Sharpeville police station in what became one of the most widely documented atrocities of the apartheid era.
In the era of a rapid global change, South African artists are engaging in profound explorations of identity, cultural heritage and transformation. The ArtbankSA’s contemporary collection presents a remarkable ensemble of works that, while diverse in media and subject matters, jointly examine the complex interplay between tradition and modernity, belonging and displacement, and the artistic individual experience within broader sociocultural contexts.
As South Africa commemorates Human Rights Month, the nation engages in critical reflection on its trajectory from the systemic brutality of apartheid to a constitutional democracy ostensibly founded on principles of dignity, equality and freedom. While the country’s Constitution is rightfully celebrated as one of the most progressive legal frameworks globally, the sober reality for many South Africans remains characterized by persistent structural inequality and unresolved human rights challenges.
The concept of sojourn—encompassing temporary dwelling, the state of “in-between” worlds, and the undertaking of spiritual journeys—provides a critical framework for examining contemporary South African visual arts.