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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 and art events (Thu, Apr 17 – Thu, Apr 24)
Art Club on Wed, Apr 16 at 18:00 – A legacy exhibition at Strauss & Co's Houghton showroom features 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 domestic workers, washerwomen, brick-makers, coal merchants, miners, barbers, and shopkeepers. Shown alongside are Hugo's pastel drawings of heavy machinery operators.At the next edition of Strauss & Co's Art Club, art specialist Richard “Specs” Ndimande is joined by Hugo to discuss the depiction of the worker in her art. RSVP here. The exhibition is open until Fri, May 30.
Closing soon
Until Thu, Apr 24 – For an examination of the spatial dialogue that is inherent in South African sculpture, head to Latitudes Centre for the Arts for the group exhibition, Pro Forma. This show challenges our perceptions of contemporary sculptures as mere objects, asking us to consider them as interventions instead. Sculptures are made with a diverse range of materials, and each work, whether representational or abstract, explores the complexities of our physical and social landscape.
More art highlights
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 – 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 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 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 Sat, May 3 – It's about the art of contemporary jewellery-making at Tinsel Gallery in Melville. The group exhibition, Sketch & Collage, features work by internationally acclaimed Scandinavian artists Märta Mattsson (Sweden) and Therese Mørch (Denmark), alongside local jewellery designer Dr Bongani Mashange, who recently graduated with a PHD in visual arts from Stellenbosch University. Geraldine Fenn, jeweller, curator, and co-founder of Tinsel, tells us more: "All three of them have distinct styles: Mattsson works with insects and the line between attraction and repulsion; Mørch has a fascination for materials and traditional craft techniques; and Mashange makes bold, sculptural pieces in wood, resin and silver."
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.
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, May 23 – Head to The Melrose Gallery in Melrose Arch for the opening of Hlukanisa, uHlanganise – a conversation between renowned artist Dr Esther Mahlangu and contemporary artists Charity Vilakazi, Tinyiko Makwakwa, Nikiwe Dlova, Puleng Mongale, and Nwabisa Ntlokwana. The title of the exhibition translates to "take apart (deconstruct) in order to reconstruct/create anew." The artists on show explore the intersection between language, lineage, and materiality, and the role of personal and collective histories in memory.
Until Sat, May 31 – Head to the Atrium of the Trumpet building of Keyes Art Mile, where Occupying the Gallery brings their large-scale work, Publish or Perish, to Joburg via Cape Town. "Occupying the Gallery reimagines what a studio can be. It transforms the traditional gallery space into an open, nomadic hub of creativity, where the process of making art takes centre stage," writes co-founder and artist Mary Sibande, who runs this initiative alongside Lawrence Lemaoana.
Publish or Perish, first shown at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, saw Occupying the Gallery challenging the conventional model of art presentation, revealing, in Sibande's words, "The messy, experimental, and collaborative nature of creation." The 'occupants' this time around are Lungile Ngcobo, Mosa Anita Kaiser, Sphatho Mzantsi, and Puseletso Masemene, while their ensemble of artworks occupy the pages of a giant, book-like structure that viewers can walk inside.
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 Sun, Jun 22 – Head to 223 Jan Smuts Creative Hub for an exciting new exhibition opening. Hosted at Berman Contemporary, two of the artists in the gallery's stable come together for Strand by Strand. In this exhibition, Hazel Mphande and Kamogelo Machaba explore the history of black hair and the politics and tension surrounding it. Using a variety of media, they bring to life the world of black women and the connections between cultural and personal identity.
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
Opening Sat, Apr 26 at 11:00 – An all-female exhibition, Planting Seeds at The Gallery at 44 Stanley explores themes of growth, connection, and transformation. Through a diverse collection of paintings and drawings, this group exhibition features work on space: natural spaces, landscapes, mountainscapes, and interior scapes are all explored from the perspective of the human and the balance between external forces and inner growth.
Opening Sat, Apr 26 at 10:00 – Head to Goodman Gallery for Urban Entanglements: How Art Reflects Citymaking, an exhibition that spotlights influential masters from the African continent during the 20th century. Spanning four decades, the work of artists such as David Koloane (1938–2019), Kagiso ‘Pat’ Mautloa, and Sam Nhlengethwa documents, challenges, and reimagines the shifting landscape of Joburg in a collection of drawings, paintings, and charcoal works.
Opening Fri, May 9 – The Meaning of Home at The Old Kitchen (on the University of Johannesburg's Bunting Road campus) is a showcase of works created in collaboration by art therapist Kate Shand and ceramic artist Nina Shand with children from the educational project Three2Six. Over 70 raku-fired porcelain vessels are shown alongside tactile clay sculptures by migrant children, collectively exploring home as a place of memory and belonging. The result is heartfelt and deeply evocative, fostering a universal dialogue about the role of art in healing, connection, and social change.
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 being on 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.
Opening Sat, May 31 – In 2024, Johannesburg Contemporary Art Foundation (JCAF) explored how we interact with the natural world in their Ecospheres exhibition. Curating one museum-quality exhibition a year, their upcoming offering explores built spaces as a continuation of the three-part Worldmaking series. Entitled Structures, this exhibition combines research, technology, and art to explore how we navigate and use space. Comprising a trilogy of exhibitions, Structures will be accompanied by talks, walkabouts, publications, and more episodes of JCAF's podcast series, Knowledge Talks.
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