Five art exhibitions to add to your calendar this November

A brilliant body of work is open to view, from Zanele Muholi’s reflective work, to stories of iconic South Africans, the Congolese experience, intricate dinner table paintings, and a group exhibition of iconic local and international artists.

Nize Nani by Zanele Muholi | Stevenson Gallery Cape Town 

In their 13th exhibition at Stevenson Gallery, SA photographer and activist Zanele Muholi is exhibiting a mixed body of work, including sculpture, painting, and their iconic photography of intimate moments — some featuring Muholi alone and others with their partner.

The exhibition is a reflection on being and belonging in a world of socially constructed divisions.

The paintings in the exhibition have been created with mixed media, including oil, acrylics, ink and even menstrual blood, and are described by Muholi as works that are both documentary and expressive.

Nize Nani opened on October 28 and will be running until December 4. It is open to view at the gallery and online. The gallery is open from 9am to 5pm Mondays to Fridays and from 10am to 1pm on Saturdays.

In Good Company, the exhibition by Marc-Gregory | Sandton City Diamond Walk

Due to the positive response it’s received, Marc Gregory’s photographic exhibition of works, In Good Company, has been extended until November 14.

The exhibition, which opened on Heritage Day, showcases 32 iconic South Africans who share their stories of greatness and success. South Africans who feature in the exhibition include Thuli Madonsela, Ayanda Thabethe, Gert-Johan Coetzee, Siba Mtongana, J’Something, Catherine Constantinides and Maps Maponyane.

The collection of artwork and stories took Gregory two years to complete and has also been published in a book, In Good Company, in aid of Reach for a Dream.

In Good Company, The Exhibition opened on September 24 and will be running until November 15. It’s on show in Sandton City’s Diamond Walk daily.  

Entangled by Caryn Scrimgeour | Everard Read Cape Town

The title of Caryn Scrimgeour’s new solo exhibition, Entangled, refers to the intertwining of lives, cluttered minds, and ordered chaos: pictures she portrays with her intricate paintings of delicate dinner party tables.

Scrimgeour’s work is rife with symbolism. In her work “Watching Blommsoms”, for instance, the sakura cherry blossoms act as a reminder of the fleeting fragility of life.

Entangled opens on November 3 and will be running until November 27. The gallery is open from 9am to 5pm Mondays to Fridays and from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays.

Silence calling from one continent to another — Group exhibition | Goodman Gallery Johannesburg

If you’ve not yet made it to this group exhibition on show at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg, there is still time.

The exhibition features works from seasoned artists from both home and abroad, including William Kentridge, David Goldblatt, Nolan Oswald Dennis, Kapwani Kiwanga, and Sue Williamson.

The exhibition derives its name from Kentridge’s work, the actual text coming from his processional opera The Head & the Load.

According to the gallery, it “refers to mutual incomprehension between Africa and Europe. The paradoxical nature of this phrase speaks to modes of communication, and the difficulty often encountered due to cultural differences, distance or geography”.

Silence calling from one continent to another opened on October 9 and will be running until November 10. The gallery is open from 9am to 5pm Tuesdays to Fridays and from 9am to 4pm on Saturdays. 

Congo Revisited by Roger Botembe | Gallery MOMO

Congo Revisited features a body of work from the late Congolese artist Roger Botembe, who died in 2019.

The exhibition takes its name from photographer Angelo Turconi’s book, Congo Revisited, a photographic memoir that documents his 50 years spent in the Congo, as a parallel body of work which, this time round, portrays daily life through the eyes of the Congolese.

Congo Revisited opened on October 26 and will be running until December 14. The gallery is open from 9am to 5pm Tuesdays to Fridays and from 10am to 3pm on Saturdays.