Iziko South African National Gallery: 12 December 2025 – 30 June 2026
Media preview: 11 December, 10:00 – 14:00 RSVP mediaofficer@iziko.org.za
Iziko Museums of South Africa looks forward to presenting the exhibition Steven Cohen: Long Life, a major retrospective showcasing forty years of pioneering work by the internationally recognised South African artist Steven Cohen. The exhibition will take place at the Iziko South African National Gallery, located in the historic Company’s Garden, Cape Town, from 12 December 2025 to 30 June 2026.
This exhibition offers an unprecedented look at Cohen’s artistic career, which has shaped the discourse of performance art in South Africa, France, and beyond. Known for his fearless exploration of identity, politics, and belonging, Cohen’s work interrogates themes ofsexuality, spirituality, race, freedom, ethics, memory and love. While engaging with universal themes, Cohen’s work is always rooted in deeply personal narratives of love, loss and resilience.
The title, Long Life, is a phrase of condolence in Jewish custom, one that honours those who have passed while offering hope and affirming that to live is a blessing. This sentiment resonates throughout Cohen’s works. Above all, Long Life is about compassion and indignation, belonging and loneliness, and the connections with others that make life worth living.
Made up of installations, performance documentation, objects, images, films and ephemera, the exhibition offers a loosely chronologicalsurvey of Cohen’slife and work, coalescing around key relationships in the artist’s life.
From textile-based works from the late 1980s, to documentation of Cohen s uninvited public interventions in the late 1990s and early 2000s, to more recent performances conceived for the stage, the exhibition represents the breadth of a profoundly influential career.
The exhibition is curated by Dr Anthea Buys, an independent curator, writer and researcher based in South Africa.
Steven Cohen: Long Life is made possible through the support of the Iziko Museums of South Africa (South Africa), the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) and Institut Francais in Paris, Stevenson (South Africa/Netherlands), as well as private donors.
The exhibition will be complemented by an inclusive public programme featuring:
- Youth-focused educational initiatives
- Artist-led workshops
- Curated walkabouts and discussions
These activities aim to foster dialogue, inspire creativity, and broaden accessto contemporary
art for diverse audiences. Programme details will be revealed online via the website and social
media platforms of Iziko Museums.
