This year, the first-of-its-kind Gallery Lab will be a 600m² pavilion where galleries and hybrid spaces from the continent and beyond gather for an annual conference of collaboration, discussions and sharing of best practices.
The section is curated by Nicole Siegenthaler, fair manager, FNB Art Joburg, and Banele Khoza, founding director, BKhz, with nine exhibitors. Gallery Lab will serve as an incubator, a space to develop and nurture emerging galleries and programmes as well as a space for exploration; to present and test new artists, ideas and business models relevant to the contemporary African arts landscape.
Invited to participate on a proposal basis, featured artists from nine galleries from five countries include 16/16, Lagos; BKhz, Joburg; Hussein Salim, Eclectica Contemporary, Cape Town; ELA Espaço Luanda Arte, Luanda; Modzi Arts, Lusaka; Balekane Legoabe and MJ Turpin, NO END Contemporary Art Space, Joburg; Sejiro Avoseh, Tonia Nneji and Marcellina Akpojotor, Rele Gallery, Lagos; Revolving Arts Incubator, Lagos and Khulekani Msweli, Mbongeni Dlamini, Mesuli Mamba, Tony Marshak, Phindile Mamba, Thabo Lukhele and Sakhile Gumbi, Yebo Contemporary, Swaziland.
They will make up an active hub set up for workshops, talks and informal gatherings that focus on specific professional practice topics such as artist relationships, web design, art fair applications and financial management and other wider themes affecting the contemporary African creative economy.
Also new to the fair, this year, is the MAX section – a first in Africa – which will exclusively be dedicated to showcasing large-scale installations that might typically be challenging to exhibit in a fair setting. Unconfined to booths, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town + Joburg will present a massive painting by Misheck Masamvu; Everard Read, Cape Town + Joburg, will exhibit a show-stopping sculpture by Brett Murray; Blank Projects, Cape Town has commissioned Igshaan Adams to create work on-site; SMAC, Joburg will present a new collage by Jody Paulsen; WhatIfTheWorld, Cape Town, will exhibit a multimedia sculpture by Athi Patra-Ruga; and Stevenson, Cape Town + Joburg will showcase a large scale photographic print by Zanele Muholi.
Galleries in the central section will exhibit in a booth structure and include Blank Projects; Everard Read, Gallery MOMO, Cape Town + Joburg; Goodman Gallery; Kalashnikovv Gallery, Joburg; SMAC; SMITH, Cape Town; Stevenson; and WhatIfTheWorld.
For more information on FNB Art Joburg, visit artjoburg.com.
