Dada South?
12 December 2009 to 28 February 2010
Rooms 7, 8, 9 and 10
Founded in Zürich in 1916, the Dada movement
rejected traditional artistic and cultural values.
Through its radical ‘anti-art’ stance, artists
associated with Dada disrupted conventions of
the modernist age and had a profound impact on
future forms of creative practice. The resurgence
of Neo Dada movements in the 1960s rejuvenated
these radical ideas.
Dada’s legacy is one of fierce political potential
through radical disruptions of accepted forms.
For some South African artists working during
the decades of oppression and isolation of the
apartheid era (1948–1994), Dada strategies
were a significant influence on their resistance
tactics, and one which is finding its way back into
the expressions of a new generation of young,
contemporary practitioners.
Curated by Roger van Wyk and Kathryn Smith, the
exhibition draws together works by South African
artists dating from the late 1960s to the present,
representing a range of avant-garde positions in
the aftermath of Dada, including works by Wopko
Jensma, Neil Goedhals, Jane Alexander, Lucas
Seage, Candice Breitz and Kendell Geers, among
others. In an adjoining space, original Dada works,
including films and publications, will be assembled
for exhibition in South Africa for the first time.
A series of seminars and public lectures will
accompany the exhibition as part of Iziko Summer
School 2010.
Dada South? is made possible through a partnership with
the Goethe-Institut and the support of the National Arts
Council of South Africa, Pro Helvetia, Mondriaan Foundation,
Culturesfrance and others. International loan institutions
include: Institute For Foreign Cultural Relations, Stuttgart;
Berlin Gallery, Berlin; John Heartfield Archive of the Academy
of Arts, Berlin; Kunsthaus Zürich; De Stijl Archives, Netherlands
and Institute for Art History, Den Haag.
Enquiries: Nadja Daehnke, Tel. 021 467 4673
or email Andrea Lewis, alewis@iziko.org.za.
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