David Krut Publishing,
Africa’s No 1 Arts Bookstore and Publisher

Us considers the substance of any instance were we name ourselves an Us, whether according to nation, culture, class, gender, sexuality or race. The show will be curated by Bettina Malcomess and Simon Njami and contains work by both local and international artists.

The substence of any Us is not fixed, rather constantly shifting, fluid and unstable. Feminity, masculinity, whiteness, blackness, nation, Europeanity, Africanity, are often an empty shell, a placeholder into which we loosely fit, if at all with boundaries constantly in need of definition and even defense.

The show emerges out of the xenophobia violence, political transformation and the ripple effects of the current economic crises. US, however, takes no position on nation, location or identity that define the criteria for the selection of works. Instead it presents an open frame for artists to develop work in conversation with, and context of, one other. Included works ask questions on the shifting constellation of self, nation, place and culture – question vital to the particular conditions of Us on contemporary SA and elsewhere.

Unknown Author

Keywords: JAG, Johannesburg, Johannesburg-Art-Gallery, Nolan Stevens