Each photographer has chosen two of his or her own images. One that brought them the most joy to photograph, and one that brought them the most pain. Eighteen slide projectors stand around the darkened gallery space. For 18 minutes Paradiso floods the walls, and then for 18 minutes comes Inferno, endlessly alternating through their cycle.

'After dedicating four years of my life to the Rwandan genocide, I have concluded from my own personal experience, with much sadness and despair, that images are rapidly losing their capacity to affect us. Is this loss of affect a symptom of an indifferent society, or are images the cause of such indifference?'

- Alfredo Jaar, introduction to exhibition catalogue

Inferno & Paradiso was curated by Alfredo Jaar, one of the foremost representatives in today's international world of contemporary art. The artist, Alfredo Jaar, was born in Chile but now lives in New York. In 1994 he went to Rwanda in the middle of the genocide, an experience which changed his life and his art. It was this experience that subsequently inspired him to stage this exhibition in co-operation with BildMuseet and Riksutstallningar (Swedish Travelling Exhibitions).

The South African National Gallery is particularly pleased to be hosting this exhibition as it includes works by the prominent South African and southern African photographers Peter Magubane, Themba Hadebe and Ricardo Rangel.

'Each image tells a story, but not every story has been told. This is not fiction.'

-Alfredo Jaar, introduction to exhibition catalogue

For more information on the exhibition and seminar contact Kathy Grundlingh or Colin Payne at 4651628 or kgrundlingh@iziko.org.za.