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SABC Art Collection One of the most extensive, broadly representative collections of South African art in the world, the SABC Art Collection comprises more than 1 000 artworks
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One of the most extensive, broadly representative collections of South African art in the world, the SABC Art Collection comprises more than 1 000 artworks, celebrating the immense diversity and depth of local creative expression – both historical and contemporary. In curatorial approach, we strive to be representative across categories of race, gender, historical period, style and medium. We seek to evoke emotion and inspire debate. The pluralism and diversity of expression voiced through the Collection speak of the SABC’s inclusive, democratic approach to broadcasting.

Irma Stern: Looking closer to home, the second in a four-part exhibition series exploring the life, journeys and artisti...
08/10/2026

Irma Stern: Looking closer to home, the second in a four-part exhibition series exploring the life, journeys and artistic legacy of South African artist Irma Stern (1894–1966), has just opened at Norval Foundation.

Looking closer to home forms part of a multi-year collaboration between Norval Foundation Norval Foundation Art Museum , the Irma Stern Trust Irma Stern Museum and Nedbank and follows on from The Berlin Years, which explored Stern’s early artistic development and her years in Germany.

Curated by Karel Nel, the exhibition offers a closer look at Stern’s engagement with southern African people and landscapes during a formative period in her career. It brings together paintings she made in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Eswatini, alongside related charcoal drawings and sculptures from the artist’s personal archive, many of which have rarely, if ever, been viewed publicly.

‘The exhibition traces a significant shift in Stern’s practice. After spending her early years between South Africa and Germany, the rise of anti-Semitism and the outbreak of World War II led her to focus increasingly on travelling and painting across Africa. Her journeys through rural South Africa, followed by travels to the Congo and Zanzibar, became an important part of her artistic legacy,’ reads the curatorial statement.

The SABC Art Collection is honoured to house five paintings by Stern: Native Girl (1955) [ #1], Mapogo Woman (1934) [ #2], Seated Arab Man (1945) [ #3], Irises (1949) [ #4] and Still Life with Fruit (1947) [ #5]. Seated Arab Man was featured as part of the exhibition Irma Stern: The Zanzibari Years at Norval Foundation in 2021.

The current exhibition runs until 10 January 2027. Exhibitions exploring Stern’s later journeys to the Congo and Zanzibar will follow in 2027. [Text continues in comments]

Khulekile Hamilton Budaza (b. 1958, Kensington, Cape Town)News Bulletin1992linocutedition 16/4023.5 x 32 cm
19/08/2026

Khulekile Hamilton Budaza (b. 1958, Kensington, Cape Town)
News Bulletin
1992
linocut
edition 16/40
23.5 x 32 cm

What We Do Not See, an exhibition remembering the photographer David Goldblatt (1930–2018) in what would have been his 9...
12/08/2026

What We Do Not See, an exhibition remembering the photographer David Goldblatt (1930–2018) in what would have been his 95th year, is now on show at Wits Art Museum Wits Art Museum and features a selection of photographic essays centred around the idea of home – the structures, places, cultures and relationships we live with.

Alongside Goldblatt’s work, the exhibition brings together nine, mainly Johannesburg-based, photographers: Gulshan Khan, Jabulani Dhlamini, Jo Ractliffe, Jodi Bieber, Lindokuhle Sobekwa, Madoda Mkhobeni, Mark Lewis, Sabelo Mlangeni and Tshepiso Mazibuko. In their practice, each engages with themes of memory, place, identity, belonging, worship, survival and history, as shaped by their personal and collective experiences of living in and around Johannesburg.

Grounded in Goldblatt’s reflection on ‘photography as a means of honouring what is overlooked and unseen, the exhibition considers how photographers can make visible both what is hidden and highlight what exists in plain sight’, reads the exhibition statement.

Recognising Goldblatt’s sustained commitment to broadening access to photographic literacy, the exhibition ‘includes outputs from workshops run by Of Soul and Joy, a photography education programme based in Thokoza and managed by Jabulani Dhlamini’.

The SABC Art Collection is honoured to house eight photographs by Goldblatt – one of them – Cells, 2004 – generously gifted to the Collection by the photographer shortly before his death. The Collection also houses works by Ractliffe and Mlangeni, whose photographs are included in the exhibition.

Shared here are Goldblatt’s Man with an injured arm, Hillbrow, Johannesburg, June 1972 [frame #1]; Children on the border between Fietas and Mayfair, Johannesburg, 1949 [ #2]; Cells, 2004 [ #3]; Cells, 2004 (detail) [ #4 & 5].

Curated by Brenda Goldblatt and Fiona Rankin-Smith, What We Do Not See runs until 24 October 2026.

What We Do Not See, an exhibition remembering the photographer David Goldblatt (1930–2018) in what would have been his 9...
12/08/2026

What We Do Not See, an exhibition remembering the photographer David Goldblatt (1930–2018) in what would have been his 95th year, is now on show at Wits Art Museum Wits Art Museum and features a selection of photographic essays centred around the idea of home – the structures, places, cultures and relationships we live with.

Alongside Goldblatt’s work, the exhibition brings together nine, mainly Johannesburg-based, photographers: Gulshan Khan Gulshan Khan , Jabulani Dhlamini Jabulani Dhlamini , Jo Ractliffe Jo Ractliffe , Jodi Bieber Jodi Bieber , Lindokuhle Sobekwa Lindokuhle Sobekwa , Madoda Mkhobeni Madoda Mkhobeni , Mark Lewis Mark Lewis , Sabelo Mlangeni Sabelo Mlangeni and Tshepiso Mazibuko Tshepiso Mazibuko . In their practice, each engages with themes of memory, place, identity, belonging, worship, survival and history, as shaped by their personal and collective experiences of living in and around Johannesburg.

Grounded in Goldblatt’s reflection on ‘photography as a means of honouring what is overlooked and unseen, the exhibition considers how photographers can make visible both what is hidden and highlight what exists in plain sight’, reads the exhibition statement.

Recognising Goldblatt’s sustained commitment to broadening access to photographic literacy, the exhibition ‘includes outputs from workshops run by Of Soul and Joy Of Soul and Joy , a photography education programme based in Thokoza and managed by Jabulani Dhlamini’.

The SABC Art Collection is honoured to house eight photographs by Goldblatt – one of them – Cells, 2004 – generously gifted to the Collection by the photographer shortly before his death. Also, works by Ractliffe and Mlangeni, whose images are part of the exhibition.

Shared here are Goldblatt’s Fifteen-year old Lawrence Matjee after his assault and detention by the Security Police, Khotso House, De Villiers Street, 1985
[frame #1]; Children on the border between Fietas and Mayfair, Johannesburg, 1949 [ #2]; Cells, 2004 [ #3, #4 & #5 (details)].

Curated by Brenda Goldblatt and Fiona Rankin-Smith, What We Do Not See runs until 24 October 2026.

Earlier this month, at the leading international photography festival, Les Rencontres d’Arles Les Rencontres d'Arles in ...
29/07/2026

Earlier this month, at the leading international photography festival, Les Rencontres d’Arles Les Rencontres d'Arles in France, South African photographer Sabelo Mlangeni Sabelo Mlangeni was announced as the current laureate of the James Barnor Prize.

Launched in 2022, the prize supports and recognises mid-career African photographers, with each edition focusing on a different region of the continent. This third edition was dedicated to Southern Africa.

A graduate of the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg, Mlangeni (1980, Mpumalanga) has built his practice around intimate photographs that draw out the inherent beauty in the ordinary. Driven by his interest in everyday practices of community and communing, he spends significant periods of time with those he chooses to photograph, coming to know their thoughts, feelings, stories and lives.

The SABC Art Collection is proud to house two photographs by Mlangeni. Clocking Off I and III (2006) document municipal workers cleaning the dark and deserted streets of downtown Johannesburg while the rest of the city sleeps. Mlangeni was meticulous in documenting subtle things like the taking of s***f in the pre-dawn hours, faces distraught at the sight of a camera man. He also shows people striking poses and smiling, camouflaging the pain and exhaustion that comes with the work.

Mlangeni’s photographs have been widely exhibited in South Africa and internationally, most recently at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. (2026), the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York (2025), and the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (2024).

As part of our commitment to giving as many people as possible the chance to see the artworks owned by the SABC and maki...
17/06/2026

As part of our commitment to giving as many people as possible the chance to see the artworks owned by the SABC and making the Collection as public as possible, the SABC Art Collection has an active loans programme, frequently loaning artworks to institutions around the country and the world.

Currently on loan to University of Pretoria Museums and School of the Arts is a carved wood panel, called ‘Forms’, which was made in 1975 by Lucky Sibiya (1942–1999), who is renowned for his abstract paintings and sculptural carvings in which Ndebele designs and colours are a prominent aspect.

This work forms part of the exhibition ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’, the title of which reflects the paradox of an artist who lived and worked for decades in Hammanskraal and Pretoria, whose artworks entered respected public and private collections, yet whose significance has remained under-acknowledged within the canon of South African art history. ‘The title also speaks to the symbolic language embedded in his imagery, shaped by spiritual knowledge systems connected to ancestry, protection, and healing,’ write the curators Salomé Le Roux .le.roux and Dr Gerard de Kamper .

Introduced to the medium of the wood panel and coloured woodcut by Cecil Skotnes, Sibiya became known as an engraver, making panels, serigraphs, colour woodcuts and free sculpture in wood, bone, and metal. Central to nearly all his compositions is the human figure. Other recurring motifs include animals, birds, fish, and cattle.

‘A defining feature of the exhibition is the public integration of scientific material analysis within the gallery environment,’ reads the exhibition statement. ‘By making conservation science visible and participatory, the exhibition reveals the material composition of artworks and demonstrates how scientific investigation can deepen understanding of artistic meaning, cultural context, and historical continuity.’

𝙃𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙎𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙧𝙩, 𝙇𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙘𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙇𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙮 𝙎𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙮𝙖 is on show in The Bridge Gallery until February 2027.

A major exhibition of works by Diane Victor .victor opened this week at the Comtesse de Caen Pavilion of the Académie de...
10/04/2026

A major exhibition of works by Diane Victor .victor opened this week at the Comtesse de Caen Pavilion of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in recognition of her having been awarded the 10th Mario Avati Engraving Prize last year. ‘Through her powerful and engaging works, South African artist Diane Victor explores social and political tensions, pushing the boundaries of print with a unique mastery of trait and techniques,’ reads the statement of the exhibition, which runs until 31 May 2026.

Running concurrently a few metres away at the 100-year-old Galerie Larock-Granoff , is Victor’s solo exhibition ‘Fallen Heads’. ‘To kick off the month of drawing, we are excited to showcase a body of work that powerfully explores the boundary between humanity and animality,’ says the curatorial statement. ‘Through charcoal, candle-smoke, and soot, Diane Victor captures the ephemeral. At the crossroads of the political and the symbolic, her work disturbs, fascinates, and questions our times.’

Born in 1964 in the mining town of Witbank, Victor grew up during Apartheid. A graduate of Fine Arts from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, she has established herself today as one of the major figures of the contemporary art scene, recognised for the power and unflinching complexity of her work, in which physical, psychological and sexual violence are recurring themes.

Victor first visited France in 1985 on an Anya Millman scholarship and, in 1988, she spent 10 months at the Cité Internationale des Arts as the winner of the, then, Volkskas, now, ABSA L’Atelier Award.

The SABC Art Collection is proud to house numerous artworks by Victor. These include Blind Justice [Frame #1], Glue Boys [ #2], Why Defy [ #3] and All for the Right Price [ #4] from her series ‘Disasters of Peace’ Part I (2001–2003), inspired by Francisco Goya’s ‘Disasters of War’.

Photographs of the Academy of Fine Arts exhibition [Frames #5 & 6] are by Patrick Rimond.

South African photographer Jo Ractliffe currently has a solo exhibition on at Jeu de Paume in Paris. Curated by Pia Vi...
26/03/2026

South African photographer Jo Ractliffe currently has a solo exhibition on at Jeu de Paume in Paris. Curated by Pia Viewing, ‘En ces lieux / Out of Place’ runs in tandem with ‘Global Warming’, an exhibition by British social documentary photographer Martin Parr, who died in December 2025.

Situated in the heart of Paris, in the Tuileries Gardens, Jeu de Paume, a centre for art and international creation, is a landmark site for the presentation of images of the 20th and 21st centuries, ranging from photography to cinema, and from video to installation and online creation.

‘Ractliffe is […] known for her quiet yet penetrating examinations of landscape, memory, and the lingering aftermaths of conflict,’ reads the exhibition statement. ‘Over four decades, her work has explored how histories—particularly those shaped by war, displacement, and apartheid—imprint themselves on the terrain. Ractliffe’s photographs resist the immediacy of the journalistic documentary image; instead, they approach the world obliquely, revealing meaning through absence, nuance, and the stark, poetic atmosphere that emanates from certain situations.’

The SABC Art Collection houses seven artworks by Ractliffe—among them three images from her 1988 series ‘Nadir’ in which she combined photocopies, sketches, and collage to arrive at final compositions, which she printed using layers of photolithography, varnish and screenprint. She combined photographs of aggressive dogs (signs of violence and brutal police control) with images of squatter camps, forced removals, relocation settlements, and rubbish dumps to transmit a dystopian sense of the fear and anger that held sway during the states of emergency that were imposed by the apartheid government in the late 1980s. Ractliffe has described ‘Nadir’ as ‘a way to image this world gone mad, without simply reiterating the discourse of resistance’.

‘Out of Place’ runs until 24 May 2026.

The 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, ‘In Minor Keys’, conceived by the late Koyo Kouoh, will...
17/03/2026

The 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, ‘In Minor Keys’, conceived by the late Koyo Kouoh, will be opening on 9 May 2026, and will be installed across the Giardini, Arsenale and other locations in Venice.

‘In looking to artists working in Salvador, Dakar, San Juan, Beirut, Paris, or Nashville, Koyo sought to envision how their ingenuity, breadth of material experimentation, and visionary ideas bear connections to other artists and movements in simultaneity,’ reads an official statement. ‘In this spirit, “In Minor Keys” expands upon Koyo’s relational geography of encounters with artists over her lifetime.’

The following artists from Southern Africa are among the 111 individual artists, collaborative duos, collectives and artist-led organisations invited to participate in the exhibition: Nolan Oswald Dennis; Nicholas Hlobo; Senzeni Mthwakhazi Marasela; Georgina Maxim; Thania Petersen; Johannes Phokela; Berni Searle; Mmakgabo Mmapula Helen Sebidi; Buhlebezwe Siwani; Kemang Wa Lehulere; and Billie Zangewa.

The SABC Art Collection is proud to house artworks by six of these artists. A work from the Collection by each artist is featured here: Hlobo ‘Isisindo samadlozi’ (2006); Marasela, ‘Theodora III’ (2005); Phokela, ‘Exaltation Allegory’ (1998); Searle, ‘Still, Passing By, 3’ (2005); Sebidi, ‘We Have Worked’ (1994); Zangewa, ‘Hm… Oh!’ (2006).

Following Kouoh’s passing, the exhibition continues in the spirit of her vision through the dedicated team she assembled: advisors Rasha Salti, Marie Hélène Pereira, and Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo; editor-in-chief Siddhartha Mitter; and research assistant Rory Tsapayi. Wolff Architects were appointed by Kouoh to realise the design and scenography for ‘In Minor Keys’—a phrase inspired by music, referencing the quieter, more emotional and intimate tones.

We note with regret and concern that there will be no South African national pavilion at the Venice Biennale this year, following Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie’s withdrawal of funding and support for the selected artwork, ‘Elegy’, by Gabrielle Goliath, which addresses femicide and genocide.

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Entrance 4, Henley Road, Auckland Park
Johannesburg

Opening Hours

Monday 09:00 - 16:00
Tuesday 09:00 - 16:00
Wednesday 09:00 - 16:00
Thursday 09:00 - 16:00
Friday 09:00 - 16:00
Saturday 09:00 - 16:00
Sunday 09:00 - 16:00

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