Groot Gat, the exhibition to mark Lady Skollie’s win as this year’s Standard Bank Young Artist for Visual Arts, debuts in June 2023 at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda, South Africa.

Lady Skollie discusses how in this body of work the hole or cave becomes a metaphor for tackling the complexity of Brown identities in South Africa. Groot Gat is on view in Makhanda until 2 July. The body of work will tour across the country – bringing powerful art and important ideas to diverse communities.

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Opening 30 June is the latest edition of Teresa Kutala Firmino's Owners of the Earth series – at Galerie Nagel Draxler in Berlin. Owners of the Earth Vol III: Owelema documents the arrival of apparitions of repentance informed by guilt, shame and despair. An Umbundu term, Owelema is both a noun and an adjective referring to the lack of light.

'Reluctant but not resistant to Owelema’s unpleasant presence, the protagonist rests in the murk’s embrace. A limbo, with an unspecified duration that feels like forever, Owelema presents an opportunity to grieve the old self and monsters, involuntarily shed somewhere between the narrator’s recent awakening and rage. Clinging to the fantasy of recovery, she endures the dejection. An in-between, where death is as far a distance as rebirth, healing feels like the only solace.'

Zaza Hlalethwa

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Earlier this month, the work of Gerhard Marx was a topic at a symposium hosted at the Courtauld Institute in London. 'The Art and Architecture of Mapping: Visual and Material Approaches to Cartographic Objects' foregrounded such questions as: how do maps operate as representations, and how do culturally situated understandings of space shape how they are created, seen and read?

As speaker Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi (Emory University) says, 'Marx calls into question the fixity and specificity of maps, and invites the viewer to reflect on what maps are and what we expect from them.'

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Atang Tshikare will be included in a new group show from 6 – 20 July at Under Projects. 

The Objects is a group exhibition of sculpture, painting and other enigmatic objects curated by Sean O’Toole. The exhibition will feature new and old works by Margaret Courtney-Clarke, Paul Edmunds, Luca Evans, Hannah Fleishman, Douglas Gimburg, Virginia MacKenny, Thato Makatu, Warren Maroon, Daniella Mooney, Matty Roodt, Jonah Sack, Ben Stanwix, Sarah Thomas, Atang Tshikare and Michael Tymbios.
 
The exhibition coincides with the launch of O’Toole’s new chapbook, which is titled The Object.

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For winter 2023, Stevenson Johannesburg turns into The Clubhouse, an immersive, creativity-rich environment that offers warmth and communal embrace during the coldest time of the year. The exhibition opens 8 July, and features new work by Githan Coopoo. 
 
The former Parktown North home – converted in 2019 – reverts to its domestic origins, with the gallery split into common spaces like a study, lounge and dining room. These will be populated by artworks of gallery and non-gallery artists such as Zander Blom, Githan Coopoo, Georgina Gratrix, Pieter Hugo, Unathi Mkonto, Georgia Munnik, Paulo Nazareth, Hylton Nel, Odilil Donald Odita, Robin Rhode, Viviane Sassen and Portia Zvavahera. Also on display will be furniture, upholstery, lighting, and decorative elements from recognised and up-and-coming local designers. 

'At The Clubhouse, we invite all to engage, play, learn and stay, interacting with the gallery as visitors instead of spectators.'

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The Give Her a Crown platform is an initiative of The Change Collective Africa which addresses gender-based violence and femicide. Beth Diane Armstrong is one of 6 recognised female artists who have created the 2023 Crown Collection – each producing a bespoke piece of art that celebrates exquisite details.

Give Her a Crown is a female empowerment platform that uses the power of storytelling and the arts to make a difference in the fight against gender inequality and to promote female empowerment. The collection will be curated by ARRCC Interiors and is sponsored by Jaguar. 

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If you look hard enough, you can see our future is a group exhibition now on at the African American Museum in Dallas, USA. Showcasing pieces from the Nando's Collection, this exhibition is about the unity of our contemporary Southern African artwork, says museum founder Dr Harry Robinson. Jr.

Works by Brett Murray, Sanell Aggenbach, Beezy Bailey, Tamlin Blake, Philip Barlow and others engage with universal themes of humanity, love, loss and hope for a better future. The exhibition runs until 13 August. 

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The 2023 Food Dialogues event is taking place across different venues in Cape Town from 4 – 18 July. This annual programme examines the challenges facing society's food systems through panel discussions, workshops, community walks, and – this year – an exhibition at 16 on Lerotholi gallery. 

The gallery will showcase both art and their food garden, which is a community resource and educational space for gardeners, residents and visitors to learn more about growing food, our food system, skill development & community support.