The Stellenbosch Triennale, brainchild of the Stellenbosch Outdoor Sculpture Trust, takes place from February 11 to April 30, 2020 in a location renowned for its halls of academia and historical vineyards.
The upcoming international showcase, extraordinary in terms of international reach and extent of art on show, will place creativity in critical dialogue with the society that fosters and exhibits it.
The theme 'Tomorrow There Will Be More of Us' informs the further seven multidisciplinary platforms - that provide meeting points for engagement with the divided past, the collective present and imagined futures.
The Curators’ Exhibition, compiled by chief curator Khanyisile Mbongwa with Triennale co-curator Bernard Akoi-Jackson, will feature 20 artists from a range of African countries, and will interpret the theme.
The multidisciplinary art exhibition, situated inside The Woodmill and on the surrounding precinct will provide a gateway where visitors will be introduced to the Triennale’s other exhibitions and installations.
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According to Chief Curator Mbongwa, “African creatives confront us with what is possible for a renewal to happen utilising art as a lens, a course correction, a stimulus around curiosity and imagination. Through the Triennale, we bring work from the continent to the southernmost tip as an intersection of time - where the past, present and future are in dialogue.”
The journey of the Stellenbosch Triennale will take in various sites of engagement, the geographical location supporting ideas of foundation and transition.
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On The Cusp
An exhibition of artworks by 10 young African artists, curated by Dr Bernard Akoi-Jackson, On The Cusp is about revealing and unravelling the creative talents of tomorrow.
Focused on young art practitioners who have pushed their creative boundaries and sit on the cusp of beauty and magic through their aesthetic, conceptual, methods. On The Cusp is a point of transition between two different states; looking at the present and seeing what the creative promises to deliver.
From The Vault
An archival exploration forms part of the education programme, titled From The Vault. This programme exhumes archives and engages with buried museum collections as a critical resource in contextualising and mapping contemporary society and culture. The curator’s statement asks, “What happens if we look at the vault through speculative lens; if we suspend historical frameworks and adopt inter-subjective processes of meaning making? Can we speculate on Future history?”
Die Braak Pavilion
The Pavilion designed by award-winning architect Pieter Mathews and situated on the centrally located Die Braak in town, will provide a platform for education, talks, information gathering and dialogue. The pavilion itself will be an artwork, temporary in nature, highlighting the ethos of the sponsor and the curator, speaking to social and environmental issues.
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Concepts of Freedom Film Festival
Concepts of Freedom Film Festival is curated by Kenyan musician and filmmaker Silas Miami and will be shown throughout the town. Venues will be both outdoors and indoors; workshops will be held for aspiring filmmakers. Divided into three parts, there’s a visual art platform titled the ‘Concepts of Freedom’ -Film Meditation consisting of retrospective work by two African contemporaries: Sunny Dolat (Kenya/Sao Tome) and Athi-Patra Rugra (SA).
The Imaginarium
The Imaginarium will provide a unique learning opportunity for learners of all ages. It will provide a supplementary, online, open source (free) discovery/learning resource centre, accessed through the Triennale website. It is designed to stimulate imagination and support 21st Century learning skills.
Em-Bodied: Being & Becoming
Performative Art Practices Festival is to be curated by celebrated South African curator and choreographer Jay Pather, Khanyisile Mbongwa and Bernard Akoi-Jackson and will use as its location the town of Stellenbosch, allowing for dialogue with its history and architecture.
Visit www.stellenboschtriennale.com