Wed 18 Jan - Mon 6 Feb 2012

Venue - Gallery of Light
Free Event

An exhibition of films by South African artists, Mine’s title embraces both meanings of the word, referring not only to deep level mining, but also to the concept of personal ownership. The works featured have been chosen for their diversity, yet despite their obvious differences each piece sees the artist make reference to himself or herself in their work; either in person or as an actor, model, observer, interviewer or instigator.

Mine seeks to explore the myriad ways in which we identify and position our ‘selves’, and is the first time that the UAE has ever hosted a Contemporary South African art exhibition. Whether creating from a local or a diasporal perspective, and no matter how varied the themes and artistic strategies may be, all the works presented here are centred in one way or another around specifically ‘South African’ issues.

At the heart of the exhibition are works by internationally-renowned artists William Kentridge and Robin Rhode. Kentridge is known for his evocative prints, charcoal drawings, animated films and theatre works that reflect the complexity of a South African society brutalised by decades of apartheid. Kentridge has had major exhibitions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2009); Philadelphia Museum of Art (2008); Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2007); and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2004), among others. He has been recognised with many awards, including the Sharjah Biennale 6 prize, Carnegie Prize (Carnegie Museum of Art) and the Goslar Kaisserring Award. Robin Rhode approaches his multidisciplinary and unconventional art practice through the high energy of street inventiveness and youth culture, often drawing on the subcultural codes of hip hop, popular sports, film and fashion to render the everyday as art. Rhode’s work is included in the collections of numerous international institutions, including The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York; Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC; the Honart Museum Collection, Tehran; and the Goetz Collection in Munich, amongst others.

Artists
Bridget Baker
Dineo Seshee Bopape
Doris Bloom
Jacques Coetzer
Teboho Edkins
Simon Gush & Dorothee Kreutzfeldt
William Kentridge
Donna Kukama
Michael MacGarry
Nandipha Mntambo
Zanele Muholi
Cedric Nunn
Robin Rhode
Berni Searle
Lerato Shadi
Penny Siopis
Gregg Smith
Johan Thom

Conceptualised by Abrie Fourie, artist, photographer, curator and art facilitator

DUCTAC’s Gallery of Light launches ‘Artists in Residency’ Programme Gallery invites public to interact with the residents and watch artworks being created.

DUCTAC’s Gallery of Light is continuing with its mission to promote and develop opportunities for under-represented artists and curators with the launch of its new Residency programme. The gallery will be supporting four Artists in Residence from September to early November 2011, and it is hoped that the programme will also help to sustain the gallery’s other aim - to provide a platform for dialogue between artists, both locally and across cultures.

The exciting, up-and-coming artists chosen to be the Gallery of Light’s first Artists in Residence include Ethiopian print maker Ephrem Solomon, who will be travelling to Dubai from Addis Ababa especially for the Residency. He will be joined in the gallery from 3rd to 30th September by British artist Simon Coates, who has recently relocated to Dubai and whose work was exhibited in DUCTAC’s Rotational Gallery earlier this year. On 9th October, Emirati Painter and Sculptor Khawla Darwish will begin work alongside Dubai based German-Egyptian Designer and painter Mona Fares, with their Residency continuing until 31st October.

The Gallery of Light will be open to the public throughout the Residency, with visitors being invited to interact with the artists and watch them at work.

The work created by Simon Coates and Ephrem Solomon will be exhibited in the Gallery of Light from 1st – 5th October, with Khawla Darwish and Mona Fares’ exhibition following in early November.
 
DUCTAC will also be welcoming student groups and members of the public to a series of master-classes and workshops that will be hosted by the four Gallery of Light Artists in Residence.  For more information on the workshops, please contact artsreception@ductac.org

The application process for the next round of Artists in Residence will begin in December 2011.