NOT A SINGLE STORY – Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid to exhibit unique instructional version of Vernet’s Studio in South Africa
Hosted from 12 May – 29 July at the NIROX Sculpture Park in the Cradle of Humankind, NOT A SINGLE STORY is a collaboration between the NIROX Foundation, South Africa and Wanås Konst, The Wanås Foundation, Sweden. NOT A SINGLE STORY is the NIROX Winter sculpture exhibition 2018. The exhibition and its educational program are made possible with the support of The Swedish Postcode Foundation, The Swedish Institute and the Swedish Embassy.
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Lubaina Himid Venet's Studio 1994 Photo Stefan Baumann
On Saturday 12 May, the NIROX Sculpture Park opens the exhibition NOT A SINGLE STORY. The title references “The Danger of a Single Story,” a TED Talk presented by acclaimed novelist and feminist writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which posits that our differences strengthen rather than divides us. Curated by Elisabeth Millqvist and Mattias Givell, co-directors of the Wanås Foundation, the exhibition is a celebration of diversity and includes works made of wishes, space blankets and large scale invisible sound pieces by established and emerging artists from the continent and abroad.
Notable is the participation of 2017 Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid (ZNZ/UK) who will exhibit eight figures from the 26-piece installation Vernet’s Studio uniquely produced under instruction by studio artists at NIROX. This installation comprises of female artists from art history featuring the likes of Frida Kahlo, Maud Sulter and Georgia O’Keefe. This work is exemplary of Himid’s practise, which is embedded in foregrounding stories and narratives. Having trained in set and stage design, her work often combines painting techniques with elements of three-dimensional artistic production. Last year, Himid was the oldest artist and first black woman to receive the Turner Prize, proving that her message has an important role to play in creating conversations around the exclusion of black narratives in the history of art. This is the first time Himid exhibits in Africa.
Having trained in set and stage design, her work often combines painting techniques with elements of three-dimensional artistic production. In a career spanning nearly four decades, Himid has used these techniques to develop her paintings. “I am drawn to experimenting with different ways to present these paintings because it gives me an opportunity to fill a room with people with whom an audience can easily converse.” This allows for the audience to interact intimately with the installation. This process gives the viewer agency, a concept that is vital to Himid’s practice.
Himid believes that works that give agency to their audience have the capacity to generate conversations, re-write history and contribute a new set of dialogues that can be carried into future storytelling. There is no better time to come and view Himid’s work than at NOT A SINGLE STORY, where it will form part of a larger conversation, amongst other artworks that are similarly committed to the telling of diverse stories.
The exhibition is dominated by women artists and features 24 works. The artists represent a diversity of perspectives as they range from forerunners to emerging artists within contemporary art in South Africa, the African diaspora, Sweden and internationally. Visitors to the exhibition can expect to see work by the following artists: Jane Alexander (SA), Beth Diane Armstrong (SA), Lena Cronqvist (SE), Latifa Echakhch (MR/FR), Frances Goodman (SA), Lungiswa Gqunta (SA), Lubaina Himid (ZAN/UK), Bronwyn Katz (SA), Marcia Kure (NGR), Gunilla Klingberg & Peter Geschwind (SE), Marianne Lindberg De Geer (SE), Mwangi Hutter (KEN/GE), Esther Mahlangu (SA), Whitney McVeigh (US), Nandipha Mntambo (SA), Sethembile Msezane (SA), Zanele Muholi (SA), Caroline Mårtensson (SE), Yoko Ono (JPN/US), Claudette Schreuders (SA), Mary Sibande (SA), Ayana V Jackson (US), Sophia van Wyk (SA), Nelisiwe Xaba (SA).
NOT A SINGLE STORY opens to the public with the 2018 American Express Winter Sculpture Fair hosted by Artlogic on the weekend of 12-13 May. The exhibition and its comprehensive educational programming aimed at children and youth to expand understanding of life and art, is supported by The Swedish Postcode Lottery with additional support from The Swedish Embassy, Pretoria and Swedish Institute. The exhibition NOT A SINGLE STORY and the educational exchange with talks, tours and workshops is presented in the NIROX Winter Exhibition Program context.
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NOT A SINGLE STORY NIROX Winter sculpture exhibition 2018
A collaboration between the NIROX Foundation, South Africa and Wanås Konst, Sweden
Curators: Elisabeth Millqvist & Mattias Givell, Wanås Konst, Sweden
Founder and Director NIROX Foundation: Benji Liebmann
Co-curators: Jessica Doucha & Khumo Sebambo
Opening: 2018 Winter Sculpture Fair, 12–13 May 2018.
Special event: TBA
Exhibition Period: May 12 – July 29, 2018
For more information, please contact:
Africa.
The NIROX Foundation
Khumo Sebambo, co-assistant curator
khumo@niroxarts.com http://www.niroxarts.com
Europe and USA. Wanås Konst
Sofia Bertilsson, communications
+46 (0)733 – 866820, sofia@wanaskonst.se http://www.wanaskonst.se
Press room: http://news.cision.com/en/wanas-konst
The NIROX Foundation Trust is a not-for-profit trust established to foster the arts. It occupies 30 hectares dedicated to a sculpture park, artist’s residency and concert venue, integrated into a 1 200-hectare private nature reserve, in the heart of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, on the western outskirts of Johannesburg.
The residency hosts artists from across the world, to stimulate and exchange creative action and thought, in all arts disciplines. Since 2006 it has hosted more than 250 artists.
The sculpture park produces two curated exhibitions a year, giving artists opportunity to produce and exhibit work that is otherwise difficult or impossible, due to the freedom of scale, content and production support provided by the facility. The open-air amphitheatre hosts up to 9 events a year, ranging through concerts for classical, opera, jazz, experimental and traditional music, poetry readings, dance and theatre.
The NIROX Sculpture Park receives more than 20,000 public visitors each year. A focus is to educate and encourage children and youth, from primary schools to universities, to engage with the arts through studio visits with artists, walkabouts the park and creative activations. Read more at: http://niroxarts.com
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The Swedish Postcode Lottery’s belief is that the world is getting better with the help of strong non-profit organisations. The Postcode Foundation’s goal is to carry out that vision The Postcode Foundation was established in 2003 by Novamedia Sweden AB, which operates and owns the Swedish Postcode Lottery concept. As a beneficiary to the Swedish Postcode Lottery, the Postcode Foundation annually receives part of the lottery’s surplus. This year, The Postcode Foundation was awarded 200 million Swedish crowns (SEK).
Unlike other beneficiaries, The Postcode Foundation is not the final recipient of the funds, but rather has the task of delegating financial support to various types of projects related to; people’s living conditions, nature and environment, culture, and sports. Read More Here: https://postkodstiftelsen.se/en/
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The Swedish Institute (SI) is a public agency that promotes interest and confidence in Sweden around the world. SI seeks to establish cooperation and lasting relations with other countries through strategic communication and exchange in the fields of culture, education, science and business. https://si.se/en/
For questions and further information, please contact:
Sofia Bertilsson, 46 (0)733 86 68 20, press@wanaskonst.se
Web: www.wanaskonst.se
Newsroom: http://news.cision.com/wanas-konst (download high resolution images)
Wanås Konst – Center for Art & Learning, presents and communicates contemporary art that challenges and redefines society, working outside in the landscape around Wanås in Skåne, southern Sweden. The permanent collection in the sculpture park is complemented with a program of temporary exhibitions, both outdoors and in the Art Gallery, and events such as guided tours, artists’ talks, performances and workshops engaging a wide audience. Wanås Konst produces site-specific international art and learning in an innovative and accessible way.
The collection in the sculpture park has 70 permanent works, created specifically for The Wanås Foundation – Wanås Konst by artists such as Igshaan Adams, Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, Wiliiam Forsythe, Ann Hamilton, Jenny Holzer, Yoko Ono and Robert Wilson et al. The sculpture park has approximately 75 000 visitors per year and 8000 children take part in educational activities.
Wanås Konst is run by The Wanås Foundation, a non-profit foundation created in 1994, in Östra Göinge municipality, in the South of Sweden, 1.5 h from Copenhagen, Denmark. Founding Director Marika Wachtmeister initiated the art projects at Wanås in 1987. Since 2011 the foundation is led by Elisabeth Millqvist and Mattias Givell. Wanås Konst is part self financed, part supported by state, regional and municipal funding, as well as by private foundations and sponsors.
Wanås is a place in the world where art, nature and history meet. Wanås consist of a medieval castle, an organic farm, a scenic sculpture park and an art center in southern Sweden as well as the newly opened Wanås Restaurant Hotel. Wanås Konst is part of European Land + Art Network (ELAN) and Wanås is a Long Run Destination – a leader in sustainable development within the tourism industry, community development and cultural management. Read more at www.wanaskonst.se
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