From iconic public artworks (discover a few of our favourites), interesting street art, established galleries and museums to trailblazing indie spaces, and the hardworking artists' studios in the City Centre, Johannesburg is a city for art lovers. We update this guide weekly to help you navigate the ever-changing array on offer, with a curated selection of solo and group shows, artist-led walkabouts, workshops, guided tours, and other art-related events worth your while.
For a full guide to what’s on in Joburg, explore our events calendar. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter published every Thursday morning. For extra daily updates, follow our Instagram page.
New exhibitions, open studios, and art happenings (Thu, Apr 3 – Thu, Apr 10)
Thu, Apr 3 from 17:00 – It's an art night out on the town for the first Thursday of April. 223 Jan Smuts Creative Hub in Rosebank stays open late for First Thursdays. There'll be a walk-in tufting workshop hosted by Fybre Studios, live tunes from DJ Gaëlle, a chance to see exhibitions at both Candice Berman Gallery and Berman Contemporary, and meet Sheriffah Arewa, who is currently occupying The Creatory artist residency space. Plus, enjoy complimentary drinks from the in-house barista Home of the Bean.
Thu, Apr 3 from 17:00 – The nearby Keyes Art Mile has a jam-packed line-up for the April edition of Keyes Art Night. Origin Art's group show Motion and Expression: The Space In Between in collaboration with Crispy Skateboards continues its run. In the Atrium, Occupying the Gallery bring their large-scale work Publish or Perish to Joburg via Cape Town. At the entrance to the Annex space, you can add to a growing cityscape in Cameron-Lee Olivier's interactive mural. Meanwhile, a stellar group of artists come together for a group show at BKhz Gallery, Between Us and the Stars.
Sun, Apr 6 from 10:30 – 16:00 – Get a glimpse inside the working studios and practices of over 30 artists based at August House, and chat to them to hear about their process and inspiration first-hand. Plus, see two group exhibitions by the resident artists and join in live demonstrations and workshops at this Open Studio event. There'll be food and beverages available on the day and an interactive kids area, making this a fun outing for the whole family to enjoy. Book tickets here (kids under 16 enter free).
Until Fri, May 30 – A legacy exhibition at Strauss & Co's Houghton showroom heroes the work of South African artists Gerard Sekoto and Lena Hugo. "The aim of the exhibition is to present, through a selection of paintings by Sekoto, the nature of work and the world workers created for themselves in the first half of the 20th century, juxtaposed with Hugo’s depictions of workers in the 21st century," says senior art specialist and head curator Wilhelm van Rensburg. Working Life in South Africa includes Sekoto's depictions of labourers of all types, such as nannies, washerwomen, brick-makers, coal merchants, miners, barbers, and shopkeepers. Shown alongside are Hugo's pastel drawings of heavy machinery operators.
Until Fri, May 9 – Mauritius-based artist Salim Currimjee shows at Stevenson with the solo, Tula. The title is translated from Sanskrit as 'balance', referring to the balance Currimjee has struck between his architectural and artistic practices. "This lifelong concern with seeking balance endeavours to blur differences between disciplines, and focus on queries of colour, texture, composition, and history. As in his architectural practice, Currimjee’s artworks configure space as they relate to people to create an embodied reaction to spatial planes and realms," reads the exhibition text.
Closing soon
Until Sun, Apr 6 – Two group exhibitions curated by Kamogelo Walaza show at Berman Contemporary, on the top floor of 223 Creative Hub. Through Form and Meaning invites us to consider the materiality of art not as static, but as a "living extension of the human condition" through a fascinating series of highly tactile works. Meanwhile, Ke Rona (derived from the Sesotho word for 'we are') looks at Afro-surrealism through the medium of photography – comprising a collection of staged and unstaged photographs that tread the line between truth and suggestion.
Photo: 223 Creative Hub.
More art highlights
Until Thu, Apr 17 – We loved seeing Esther Mahlangu's major retrospective Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting at Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town. The solo is now at Wits Art Museum (WAM) for an extended run. Thanks to her marvellous skill and ability to carry her heritage and culture forward, Mahlangu is an icon in the local art world. She has been painting since the age of 10, learning from her mother, grandmother, and other women in her hometown of Mthambothini village in Mpumalanga. Colourful and geometric, her work honours the symbolic and visual language of traditional Ndebele art. Mahlangu celebrated her 89th birthday on Nov 11, 2024. Her retrospective exhibition is a survey of her wide-ranging and in-depth work over the years.
Photo: Esther Mahlangu.
Until Sat, Apr 26 – Maja Maljević's playful solo exhibition Showtime is on at David Krut's The Blue House gallery. "This exhibition functions like a theatrical performance on paper, where each scene engages the viewer with unfolding drama, filled with lightness, humour, and perhaps even a touch of nostalgia for childhood worlds of make-believe," reads the curatorial statement.
Until Sat, Apr 26 – "In the vast expanse of the universe, there are threads that bind us to one another, to our pasts, and to the unknown," reads the exhibition text for Between Us and the Stars – a group show at BKhz Gallery. This exhibition goes far out, exploring the hidden connections that intertwine our lives with the cosmos. Olivia Pintér, Mankebe Seakgoe, Zakes Mda, Katlego Tlabela, and Banele Khoza are a few of the participating artists. "Through their work, we are invited to reflect on how we are bound not only to each other but to the world around us – seen and unseen, tangible and ethereal."
Until Sat, Apr 26 – Madi, Madi is a solo by provocative artist Lady Skollie at Everard Read Gallery – taking its name from the Setswana word that means both 'money' and 'blood'. "The whole show is about money because that’s literally what everything is about," says Skollie. "As South Africans, I feel like we are reaching a point where, irrespective of race, we are all one cent away from things falling apart. There’s a sense of impending doom, but also the freedom you feel when you do have cash."
Until Wed, Apr 30 – The group exhibition Fractured Foundations: Reimagining Resilience at Guns & Rain gallery features eight artists from South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, including Nathan Vuuren, Bev Butkow, and Adrian Fortuin. "In an era where the structures that once shaped our collective existence – government, religion, and cultural conventions – are fracturing under the weight of their contradictions, we are navigating unchartered territories," reads the curatorial statement. "[This exhibition] explores the aftermath of systemic collapse, not as a site of despair but as fertile ground for renewal and adaptation."
Until Fri, May 9 – Think you know everything about paper? Get ready to rethink this medium and its myriad art applications at a fascinating showcase at Wits Art Museum's (WAM) Jack Ginsberg Centre for the Book Arts. Divided into four sections, the Paper exhibition explores book art and the art of paper-making from various perspectives. From ancient scrolls to water-marking, folding, cutting, and marbling, here you will find beautiful pop-up books, some of the finest Japanese paper, William Kentridge's Sheets of Evidence, and a rare collection of handmade books that were crafted by the artists from beginning to end.
Until Fri, Jun 6 – Over 40 artists explore the skateboard deck as their canvas in the group exhibition, Motion and Expression: The Space In Between, at Origin Art at Keyes Art Mile. The gallery worked with Crispy Skateboards to bring this unusual show to fruition; a Joburg-based father and sons company known for bespoke decks and cool artist collabs. "Skateboarding is a language of motion – an act of balance, defiance, and improvisation. It is a culture built on self-expression, where style is everything, and creativity flourishes in the most unexpected spaces," reads the exhibition statement. Motion and Expression features wide-ranging artistic voices, styles, and mediums, from graffiti to mixed media, fine art, and graphic design.
Until end Jul 2025 – What do you get following an intense artistic engagement with a scientific subject – the 2.5–2.8-million-year-old Taung skull, which was discovered in 1924? Joni Brenner's solo exhibition at Origins Centre, Impact, which encapsulates her long-term creative reckoning with the child's skull, broadly exploring themes of "fragility and survival, destruction and creation, uncertainty, loss, pressure, and chance". Unusual, poignant and thought-provoking are a few more words that come to mind when describing Brenner's response to this ancient piece of the story of human evolution.
Photo: Origins Centre.
Save the date
Fri, May 23 – Sun, May 25 – A destination event, RMB Latitudes art fair returns to the whimsical Shepstone Gardens in Mountain View. The lavish, terraced gardens and intricate buildings provide a fabulous backdrop for art, while the property’s many layers make visiting feel like a treasure hunt. This three-day event features art fair booths from leading galleries and unique exhibition spaces designed by curators and artists. Delicious food stalls, bespoke treats, local wines, and fashion complete the offering. Judging by how quickly tickets sold out last year, you’ll want to snap yours up soon to avoid disappointment. Book here.
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