Lecture: Socially Engaged Art in Cape Town and South Africa

Lecture: Nomusa Makhubu. Socially Engaged Art in Cape Town and South Africa

Tue 01.04., ab 18h, mumok cinema

Nomusa Makhubu, Associate Professor of Art History and former Associate Dean of Transformation in the Humanities at the University of Cape Town, highlights works and theoretical approaches that have emerged in the context of socially engaged art in Cape Town and South Africa. South African visual art during the first decade of the post-apartheid era (1994–2004) has illuminated key tensions in the transformation process. This period saw waves of artistic visions that responded directly to the social imbalances created by apartheid and triggered important discussions on issues of power, particularly in relation to racial and gendered constructions of identity. The discussion also addresses critical terms such as Post-Race and Post-Black. A central point is the remarkable performance and video art (or new media) that signifies a shift in the general perception of ethnicity, art and transformation in South African cultural practice.

Dr. Nomusa Makhubu is a Professor in Art History at the University of Cape Town (Michaelis School of Fine Art). She is the founder of Creative Knowledge Resources (CKR) – an open access platform for socially responsive arts.

This lecture is presented in collaboration with the Erasmus+ project and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. It was initiated by the studio for Art and Intervention/Concept, Prof. Marina Grzinic, who will also introduce and moderate this talk.