On their own terms:
Young SA women artists are traversing their own path into the art world


by Londi Modiko
& Lara Koseff


Installation view of What you see is not what you remember by Helena Uambembe presented at Art Basel 2022. Courtesy of the Artist and Jahmek Contemporary Art. Photo credit: Nicolas Gysin



With surprisingly limited local media coverage, 2022 marked some extraordinary moments for Black women artists from South Africa. The first African woman – Helena Uambembe – won the Swiss edition of Art Basel’s major award, the Baloise Art Prize. This included an acquisition by Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt, who will be presenting a solo exhibition by Uambembe this year. Meanwhile, in Venice, Simnikiwe Buhlungu was the youngest artist to exhibit work on The Milk of Dreams, the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. These platforms are widely considered to be tremendous career game-changers for artists, but they rarely get there without the support of a major gallery. Something else artists seldomly achieve without extensive gallery endorsement is a dedicated collector base, which Durban-based Selloane Moeti has managed to harness independently.


Selloane Moeti, KZNSA, Durban, 2022

These are all women who have charted their own non-traditional course in an industry that remains dominated by the white and privileged, and has repetitively excluded their demographic, with an overall paucity of works by African artists, particularly Black women, in spaces that platform art. The Burns Halperin Report 2022  – conducted by journalists Charlotte Burns and Julia Halperin – is a fascinating study of representation in the US (the largest national market in the art trade*) in particular. Despite perceptions that women artists and Black artists are more visible and valued, the figures from this exhaustive data research project reveal a “real lack of sustained attention” to these groups and “a lack of any kind of systemic change” over the past 12 years, Halperin told Hannah McGivern of the The Art Newspaper. Locally, even though they form part of a significant percentage of the SA population, Black women continue to feature minimally in contemporary art programmes, making up less than 10% of artists represented by SA galleries.**


Mehak Vieira of Jahmek Contemporary Art (left) and artist Helena Uambembe (right) at Art Basel in 2022. Photo credit: Nicolas Gysin
While Halperin underscores that there are symbolic instances of a more equitable art world that are “not a reliable barometer of what’s actually happening beneath the surface” and can therefore be misleading, it is illuminating to consider the paths taken by underrepresented artists who have dissented from the norm, and where these routes have taken them.

Uambembe has relentlessly prioritised content and the generating of new narratives over saleability. Perhaps because of this, she never found a good fit in the SA gallery scene. Ultimately, she looked beyond the local, to her parents’ native Angola, and found a kindred spirit in Mehak Vieira of Jahmek Contemporary Art in Luanda. Jahmek, which maintains an incisive programme with a small but brilliant roster of artists, was invited by Art Basel to submit a proposal, and they collaborated with Uambembe on the award-winning booth. In addition, Uambembe has formed close connections with exceptional curators on the African continent such as Paula Nascimento, who has included Uambembe’s works on many of her major curatorial projects, and nominated her for the highly prestigious DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, which will host the artist for a one-year stay in Berlin from April 2023.

“You have to align yourself with the right people,” explains Uambembe. “I had a vision for my career as an artist. I imagined myself at Art Basel, but I didn’t quite know how I would get there and that it would be so soon… I was introduced to Mehak via Paula Nascimento at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair in 2020. I approached her to consider working with me, and she had actually been looking at my work already.”



Installation view of What you see is not what you remember by Helena Uambembe presented at Art Basel 2022. Courtesy of the Artist and Jahmek Contemporary Art. Photo credit: Nicolas Gysin

Much like Uambembe, Moeti has carved a successful art career independently through actively putting herself forward for career development and exhibition opportunities. Her first solo exhibition at UNDERLINE projects solidified her voice in the industry and since then she has managed to answer the question of what it means to be an artist in an economy that doesn’t allow many to make a living from their art. She is part of a movement that is coming up with their own solutions, building direct connections with collectors and successfully promoting her art through social media. Through her own efforts, her stylised paintings of figures of women from her dreamscapes infused with popular culture and symbols that explore notions of esoteric knowledge, are now in numerous public and private collections locally and abroad. She has also found ways to enable her paintings to be acquired by a ‘younger, greener’ collector base who might not be in a position to acquire her larger, pricier paintings; intermittently making small scale paintings released via catalogues on social media. She is committed to making these smaller works in between formal projects such as exhibitions and commissions and has an understanding that her desire to create requires her to think outside of the box in order for it to be supported.


Equally proactive but in a different way, Buhlungu, "is interested in knowledge production[s] — how it is produced, by whom and how it is disseminated", she explains. She has independently pursued open calls and opportunities including an educational workshop where a group of artists under 30 could present proposals for La Biennale di Venezia in what was called the Biennale College. She was one of four proposals to ultimately be selected. She is currently based in Amsterdam, where she took part in a two-year residency at the Rijksakademie. Her interest in the production of knowledge has also led to critical musings on the negotiation of these European contexts, providing a level of candour that makes her work all the more engaging. "Being in a Western, and specifically European context – which dictates so much of the discourse around visual art, and silences so many narratives that do not come from the same corner of the world" she noted to Barbara Casavecchia in Frieze Magazine, "requires a lot of negotiation when you come to it with your own epistemological references from ‘home’. But whose job is that negotiation? I don’t think that’s the kind of labour someone from the Global South should really be doing."

While being an artist shouldn’t be so profoundly difficult if you have talent, these are examples of those who display inventive levels of self-determination in defiance of the art world gatekeepers. Rather than waiting for transformation to transpire, which as evidenced above is a far slower process than anticipated, they are proof that alternative paths do exist and their proactivity and drive is galvanising.

*According to A Survey of Global Collecting in 2022. An Art Basel & UBS Report. Prepared by Dr. Clare McAndrew Founder of Arts Economics

**Based on a data study conducted by the authors looking at the artist rosters of South African galleries featured at art fairs in Johannesburg and Cape Town over the past two years.


Simnikiwe Buhlungu, And the Other Thing I Was Saying Was: A Conver-something, 2022, Sound installation, mixed media, Dimensions variable, Biennale College Arte, La Biennale di Venezia, 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, The Milk of Dreams, photo by: Roberto Marossi, Courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia






latitudes.online
11 January, 2023


Independent Network for Contemporary Culture & Art





Open call project ︎

Art
After
Baby Vol.2


To apply, please fill out this form by 22 November 2024
INCCA is pleased to announce the second edition of Art After Baby (AAB), which is again supported by the National Arts Council South Africa (NAC) Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP 5). Two successful artists will be selected to receive a living wage for two months, as well as their own solo exhibitions at Victoria Yards in Johannesburg in early 2025, mentorship and online promotion of their work through dedicated text.

We are excited to put out an open call and invite visual artists based in Gauteng, South Africa to apply. We are appealing specifically to those who are trying to juggle art-making with motherhood, caregiving or have been impacted by loss. This is one of the few projects in the province that acknowledges that artists are often “zero-hour workers” with a sporadic and unreliable income, and that many women carry the responsibility of being primary caregivers without the financial cushion to continue their practice. We also acknowledge that, whether they are parents/caregivers or not, countless women in particular are impacted by pregnancy, loss, and associated complications, and that this can have a deep effect on their ability to work. 

Due to the grant window’s limited timeline – in which the project must be complete by 31 March 2025 – we are looking for artists who have a distinct body of work in progress, and are seeking support in order to complete and exhibit it.

We hope to establish routes for others in similar positions.



The overall aim of AAB is to confront what remains a taboo subject, and to find pathways for the accepted applicants to participate in an industry often still dominated by men and/or privilege, and also to explore how art-making itself can be a cathartic salve for the many challenges of motherhood, caregiving and/or trauma and loss. We aim to establish an ongoing programme that provides artists with a short period of breathing room to focus on their work, and motivates those who are battling to juggle a career in the arts to find spaces and avenues to continue producing. In addition, we hope to establish routes and approaches for others in similar positions.




This project is heavily influenced by the research and work of British writer Hettie Judah, who interviewed around 60 artist mothers about their experiences in 2021, resulting in a manifesto, and ultimately a book titled How Not to Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents). It presents a solutions-based approach on the subject, looking at benchmarks all over the world. Ultimately, Judah suggests that what the art industry risks by not taking intersectional contexts into consideration is remaining more homogenous, precluding “participation by all but the wealthy and carefree”.

To apply, please fill out this form by 22 November 2024, but please pay close attention to eligibility requirements below.





Who can apply?

This is a project concerned with one of the many intersectional issues within the arts industry, with a focus specifically on visual artists and motherhood, caregiving, pregnancy and/or loss. To apply:

  • You need to be a visual artist AND mother, caregiver and/or have been impacted by pregnancy or associated complications or loss. Please note that you do not necessarily need to identify as a woman or a mother to apply, but we will be focussed primarily on motherhood – recognising that the responsibility for childcare currently falls overwhelmingly on mothers and women – and/or those impacted by pregnancy and associated issues.
  • You need to be based in Gauteng, South Africa. We are limited to the area in which we are based and to which the grant was awarded.
  • You need to be a visual artist working in any medium, who has created a body/bodies of work that can be illustrated in a digital portfolio in the form of a PDF, supplemented by a written artist statement. We are appealing to those who are dedicated to pursuing a career in visual art and have previously made work, but are struggling to juggle this with the challenges of motherhood, parenting, pregnancy or loss. Unfortunately we are not appealing to those who would like to start a career in the arts. Applying artists need to have previously made work, but do not need to be formally trained or have exhibited extensively. We will be considering the quality of work previously/currently being made, not your experience or age.
  • We will aim to give preference to visual artists who are freelance, independent or zero-hour workers (ie. you only receive casual work); are in financial need, as well as single mothers. (Please note that we have altered the criteria here, as we have come to understand that many artists are working in full time positions – that do not support their artistic production – out of necessity).
  • You should have a body of work in progress that you have started and need to complete and/or exhibition ready work that you have not had the opportunity to show.
  • You DO NOT need to make work on the subject of motherhood. We are looking to support those affected by, not necessarily focussed on the subject of motherhood. We will consider work by artists covering any and all subjects and will judge the work based on its conceptual and formal strength and quality. 
How to apply

Fill out this form and provide all required information, which includes an illustrated digital portfolio in the form of a PDF, supplemented by a written artist statement. Submissions via email or any other form will not be accepted. We will not accept any physical portfolios.


How will the artists be selected?


The applications will be judged by arts professionals, based on the quality of the work as well as the eligibility of the applicant. We will select two artists for this edition, who will have the opportunity to have their own solo exhibition each in a dedicated space at Victoria Yards, Johannebsurg. We will give preference to those who are nearing the end process of completing work/have complete work, but are seeking support/space to exhibit it.


What will the two selected artists receive?

  • You will each receive R20,000 in three tranches over the course of two months to help you finish work that will form part of a solo exhibition. We will request that selected artists be pragmatic and consider how this budget can be most economically spent based on the project requirements and your needs.
  • You will receive dedicated studio visits by mentors who will guide you in completing a body of work and the process of putting together an exhibition.
  • Your work will be presented as part of a solo exhibition that will take place in a dedicated space of approx 50-60m2 at Victoria Yards in Johannesburg in either February or March 2025 (with each exhibition opening on the Victoria Yards’ First Sunday event). INCCA will manage all marketing, installation, general admin of the space and endeavor to sell the work on display. You will receive a consignment agreement and a fair, industry standard percentage on the sale of any work. All work not sold at the end of the exhibition will be returned to you.  
  • A writer will be employed by INCCA to interview you on your practice with a resulting editorial or Q&A to be featured on our website.
  • INCCA will endeavor to create a network for future opportunities and offer mentorship wherever possible.



Explore Previous AAB projects and texts below
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