Mandela University’s Bird Street Gallery Celebrates Award-Winning Artist’s Exhibition
The winner in the SBYA Visual Art category, Conradie will present “Wegwysers deur die Blinkuur” – loosely translated as “Wayfinders through the Twilight Hour” – at Nelson Mandela University’s Bird Street Gallery.
She also will guide a walk through the exhibition from 10:30 to 11:30 on Saturday 20 July.
“It is a beautiful exhibition, and it will create an intriguing point of dialogue with our re-contextualised colonial-era building,” said Bird Street Gallery curator Jonathan van der Walt, referring to the history of the stately property in Central.
It is an apt setting, as Conradie’s work investigates the creolised formations of identity that are linked to South Africa’s histories of colonialism, slavery, segregation and apartheid.
“It’s great to have the artist in this space talking about the thinking behind the work, and for the public to meet the artist as well, because often they just see art in a gallery, removed from the actual process of making it.”
He said Conradie is a significant role player on the national art scene, and he encouraged art students in particular to join the walkabout, ask questions and engage with the artist.
Namibian-born Conradie, 32, is a lecturer in print media at the University of Cape Town’s Michaelis School of Fine Art. She holds a PhD in Visual Arts from the University of Stellenbosch, where she completed her MA in Visual Arts (Art Education) and her BA in Visual Arts (Fine Arts).
Her research stems from a fascination with how people categorise and arrange objects in their homes, particularly her own family members in both Namibia and South Africa.
Inspired by home décor often found in lower and working class homes, she reshapes these ornaments into a new work of art that tells a story.
The University’s Department of Visual Arts, in the Faculty of Humanities, in collaboration with Standard Bank and the National Arts Festival, is presenting the exhibition at 20 Bird Street in Central. The exhibition opens on Friday 19 July at 5:30pm and can be viewed from 9:00 to 16:00 from Monday to Friday until 8 August.
The SBYA awards are the country’s leading arts honour conferred by the National Arts Festival and Standard Bank on young South African artists, many of whom have gone on to shape the nation’s creative economy and art history.
Conradie has exhibited in New York City, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Portugal, and has participated in Art Fairs in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Brussels, Paris, and Chicago. Her work also has been bought for national and international gallery collections.