Durban Art Gallery walkabout – ‘Beauty and its Beasts’

Avoid the rush hour traffic, and end the busy working day with a chilled chardonnay, an opera aria and a chance to spend time in the beautifully-lit, tranquil Durban Art Gallery.

The curatorial team will lead a free sundowner interactive conversational walkabout with a difference on Wednesday, May 17 for the fabulous exhibition, Beauty and its Beasts, currently on at the Gallery.

The exhibition is designed to stimulate contemplation about women, and raise questions about the way we create, perpetuate or allow gender stereotypes. It is on display over two rooms at the DAG.

The exhibition examines how the stereotype was created and how artists have either perpetuated the phenomenon or subverted it.

The works on view were selected primarily from the collections of the Durban Art Gallery and where gaps were identified works have been borrowed from other collections.

The viewer will be guided by the wall text identifying themes and it is here the voices of the collaborators bring resonance and add strata to the selections.

To set the tone for the evening, and to add an audio dimension to the theme of the exhibition, opera singer Njabulo Shozi, a final year student based at UKZN’s proactive Opera School and Choral Academy, will open the informal event with a carefully-chosen operatic aria.

Shozi, a passionate singer based in Hibberdene with a tenor voice, made himself available to perform at the walkabout, when he heard about the exhibition, and saw the works on display.

As a young creative, he has an interest in the relationship between art and gender stereotypes, and wanted to add his male voice into this complex and engaging conversation.

The exhibition is curated by Jenny Stretton with collaboration from Jessica Bothma; Carol Brown; Nindya Bucktowar; Zinhle Khumalo; Sinethemba Ngubane; Osmosisliza; Fran Saunders and Swany.

During the walkabout, Stretton will be sharing the commentary and conversations with input and ideas from her collaborators.

Works borrowed from other art collections include Mary Sibande’s Cry Havoc and Zanele Muholi’s Condoms & Feet – contemporary pieces that sit provocatively alongside Hubert von Herkomer’s Queen Victoria. Works have been loaned from Campbell Collections, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Everard Read CIRCA Cape Town; GALLERYMOMO, Cape Town; Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg and the UNISA Permanent Collection, Pretoria.

The exhibition will be on display at the Durban Art Gallery from 31 March to 30 July 2017. Gallery hours: Monday-Saturday 8.30am to 4pm, Sundays 11am to 4pm.

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