8 April – 1 May 2004
Opening Reception: Wednesday 7 April 2004, 8 -10 pm
Curators’ Talk: Saturday 17 March, 3 pm, at Interurban
Work by Dirk Bahmann, Keren Ben Zeev, Jeremy Downie, Ismail Farouk, Sphiwe Gama, Nicholas Hlobo, Alison Kearney, Kasia Kwiecinska, Brenton Maart, Vivienne Mahloko, Desné Masie, Toni Morkel & Strangelove, M.U.K.A., Christian Nerf, Marcus Neustetter, Bettina Schultz, Merryn Singer, Eben & Viaan Strydom, David Tshabalala, Obakeng Tshukudu, Mandy van Niekerk, Bié Venter, Gina Waldman
Curated by Veronika Klaptocz with Keren Ben Zeev and Merryn Singer of the Joubert Park Project.
Makeshift presents the work of 25 artists in dialogue with the inner city spaces surrounding the Johannesburg Art Gallery in South Africa. The artists staged performances and interventions throughout August 2003 in Joubert Park, a transit hub for the city characterized by the co-existence of crime, high unemployment and homelessness with the dynamics of street trading and dense commuter traffic. This exhibition brings together documentation of the projects in video and photography, examining both contradictions and connections between the Gallery and its seemingly makeshift environment.
The project is presented at Interurban, a new art centre in Vancouver at Hastings Street and Carrall. Makeshift examines artists’ engagement with the urban transformation of postapartheid Johannesburg, in the context of current debates about the relationship of artists and galleries to the Downtown Eastside. Keren Ben Zeev and Merryn Singer of the Johannesburg-based artist collective, The Joubert Park Project, will lead a series of discussions and workshops for neighbourhood residents, artists, organizations, and other interested individuals beginning April 10. The complete schedule will be available atwww.geocities.com/interurbangallery/.
Makeshift has been supported by CIDA through CBIE; President’s Office and Dean of Arts, UBC; The Alvin Balkind Fund for Student Curatorial Initiatives. This is the third exhibition in a series of exhibitions curated by Master of Arts candidates in the Critical Curatorial Studies Program at the University of British Columbia.
