RMB Latitudes CuratorLab 2024
Supported by Business and Art South Africa (BASA)
RMB CuratorLab is an online mentorship programme focused on fostering professional practice skills for emerging curators on the continent. We have selected ten emerging curators, offering them mentorship and professional practice training while they plan and conceptualise an exhibition, centred on artists from their community. We are proud to introduce you to their shows below.
Everything Good Will Come
Presented by Adeyosola Adeniran
Everything Good Will Come explores the complexities of Nigerian childhood through photography and collage. Inspired by a coming-of-age novel, the exhibition delves into themes of self-discovery, family dynamics, and societal pressures. By celebrating the agency of young Nigerians, the show aims to bridge a gap in representation and spark introspection.
“Kim, There are People Dying!”
Presented by Raelee Seymour-Brown
This tongue in cheek, gloriously kitsch exhibition, “Kim, There are People Dying!”: Using popular culture as a working archive for assimilation/resistance, explores how marginalized groups use popular culture to tell their stories and challenge narratives. Through mediums like collage, illustration, and sculpture, artists explore the power dynamics within pop culture itself. Ultimately, the show argues that popular culture is a constantly evolving archive, reflecting the complexities of our world through diverse voices.
Certain Sense of Settlement, Certain Sense of Self
Presented by Giancarlo LaGuerta
Certain Sense of Settlement, Certain Sense of Self explores the connection between home and identity through artworks by Southern African artists. Everyday objects become symbols of both comfort and unease, prompting viewers to reflect on their own memories and feelings of belonging. The exhibition invites a journey of introspection, blurring the lines between reality, memory, and the search for a place to call home.
DOM
Presented by Onyịnye Alheri
DOM challenges the idea of domination that fuels oppression across the globe. The exhibition, featuring artists from war-torn regions, critiques the systems of power that devalue entire groups of people and the environment. By showcasing human resilience, DOM calls for a shift towards egalitarianism in all our relationships.
Waiting for a Savior
Presented by N’gonga Silupya
Waiting for a Savior explores culture, the ethereal, and the environment through contemporary Zambian artists. The show emotively emphasizes cultural awareness, urging viewers to embrace nature and the spiritual presence it holds. Inspired by Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, the exhibition argues that positive change requires individual and community effort.
My mark beyond reality
Presented by Kamogelo Sebopa
My mark beyond reality explores why artists choose abstraction. It delves into the creative process, questioning if it is meditative, therapeutic, or a form of rebellion. The artists use abstraction to address complex topics, like ecological grief, ancestral connection, and Black identity.
Embrace
Presented by Bayron Cornelius van Wyk
Embrace explores European colonialism's impact on Black African women. The show uses a decolonial lens to highlight the enduring effects of colonialism on cultural practices like hairstyling, while celebrating the resilience and creativity of Black African women. By reclaiming their cultural heritage, the exhibition aims to foster healing and empower Black African women.
Placement
Presented by Tlotlo Lobelo
Placement acts as a comprehensive archive that focuses on the practices of preservation, drawing attention to the thematised ecosystem of the artist, conservator, art cataloguer, and researchers. Materiality serves as a theoretical framework rooted in the context of time and situation, offering a lens through which to understand the broad spectrum of art production and its inherent functions and handling.
Vibrant Visions: Celebrating African Rural Life
Presented by Baoagi Keitshokile
Vibrant Visions: Celebrating African Rural Life invites viewers on an immersive journey into the heart of Africa's rural landscapes, where vibrancy, resilience, and cultural richness intersect to create a tapestry of captivating experiences. At its core, this exhibition is a celebration of the essence and vitality of African rural communities, illuminating their unique spirit and profound contributions to the world.
Somewhere In-between The Lines
Presented by Kukua Kweku-Badu
Somewhere In-between The Lines explores the commonalities and fluidity of culture and identity within contemporary West African societies. Looking beyond national borders, whose historical origins are tied to colonialism, the vast majority of West African countries share heritage and historical connections through the cultural practices of the region’s various societies and communities.
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