Strauss & co - 15 February 2020, Cape Town

In recent years, Ernest Mancoba (1904-2002, South Africa/France) has been rediscovered by the international art cognoscenti but remains less known in the country of his birth. Esteemed international exhibitions include A Short Century (1991, 2001, USA) curated by the visionary Okwui Enwezor, documenta (2017, Germany), held every five years to survey global contemporary art and its issues, and a retrospective on Mancoba just closed at the Centre Pompidou (Paris). Perhaps one reason South Africans do not know Mancoba is because he left. In 1938 he moved to France and - save for a few important years in Denmark - settled and died there in 2002. He only returned to South Africa twice, on the occasion of his retrospective at the Johannesburg Art Gallery 1994 and to receive his honorary phD from the University of Fort Hare in 1995. Another possible reason is because Mancoba’s work does not follow the form of other South African artists. Mancoba moved away from social realism and started experimenting with abstraction even before he left South Africa. His work reflects his engagement of not only African art influences, but also Modern Europe, as well as the art of different cultures through different times, such that it “combine[s] an African feeling with living Western culture”. The event aims to (re)introduce Mancoba to South Africa. It takes the form of a symposium where scholarly research that focuses on the context and aspects that informed and inspired Mancoba’s work is presented. It also takes the form of an art “festival” where contemporary artists are invited to exhibit works that respond to Mancoba’s art. The aim is conversations and discussion. It is thus a Dialogue , one open to the public, the art cognoscenti as well as those who wish to learn more and engage with modern South African art. Strauss & Co is proud to be a sponsor of this Symposium and Art Festival. Dialogue International scholars/ researchers: •  Dr Chika Okeke-Agulu, Professor at Princeton University (USA) is a globally acknowledged specialist in indigenous, modern and contemporary African and African Diaspora art history and theory. He has published widely and presented globally. He will be presenting the keynote speech on African art modernity. •  Dr Karen Kurcynzki, Assistant Professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst (USA) has written on Modern European art and CoBrA, the European abstract art movement to which both Ernest Mancoba and his wife the artist Sonja Ferlov belonged. The title of her talk at the conference is “Mancoba and the Invisibility of Black Expression in European Modernism” •  Ms Dorthe Aagesen is the Senior Curator of Art at the Danish National Art Gallery (Denmark) and recently curated a retrospective on Sonja Ferlov Mancoba. She will speak on the work of Ferlov Mancoba and the relationship between Ernest Mancoba’s and Sonja Ferlov Mancoba’s works. South African scholars/researchers: •  Dr Luvuyo Wotshela, Professor and Head of National Heritage and Cultural Studies Centre at the University of Fort Hare. His talk will be based on his book “Fort Hare: from garrison to bastion of learning 1916-2016”focusing on the 1930s during the time of Mancoba’s attendance. •  Dr Nomusa Makhubu, artist and senior lecturer, University of Cape Town Michaelis School of Art , and Curator of the South African pavilion for this year’s Venice Biennale will speak on social realism in South African modern and contemporary art. •  Dr Same Mdluli, curator and manager of Standard Bank Art Gallery , who recently curated the exhibition “A Black Aesthetic”, will expand on that curatorial message in the context of Mancoba for the Dialogue • Other speakers include: Wilhelm Van Rensburg (Strauss & Co), Thembinkosi Goniwe (Rhodes University), Jaco van Schalkwyk (University of Stellenbosch) and Sean O’Toole (critic, writer and curator). ERNEST MANCOBA: A DIALOGUE TO CELEBRATE HIS ART ANDWORDS Tuesday 11th February 2020, from 9am to 5pm A4 Foundation, 23 Buitenkant Street, Cape Town The Black Madonna , 1929, wood carving, 86 x 22 x 17 cm – collection of JAG Convenors: Winnie Sze, independent researcher & curator; Nomusa Makhubu, artist & senior lecturer of art history at University of Cape Town Michaelis School of Fine Art Tickets: R500 includes copies, lunch, tea; concession is available for students To buy a ticket: ErnestMancobaConference@gmail.com or contact 082 866 2601 (Winnie Sze)