‘Rendez-vous 12’ conceptualized by ten international curators

The Iziko South African National Gallery (ISANG) is hosting ‘Rendez-vous 12’ in collaboration with the Institut d’art contemporain, the Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon, the École nationale supérieure des beaux arts de Lyon and Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes.

• An unusual feature of ‘Rendez-vous’ is the involvement of ten curators of international biennials and triennials. Each was invited to submit the names of several artists to the curators of Rendez-vous, who then made their final selection of twenty artists. The exhibition showcases the participants’ new projects in sculpture, video, installation, drawing, painting and performance.
• The works that form part of the project express a diversity of interests and concerns. Quiet, contemplative images by Viriya Chotpanyavisut reflect the artist’s interest in using photography ‘to observe little things’ while, in contrast, Julia Cottin’s ‘trees’ in her installation Fôret de Juma have a massive physicality.
• The work of several artists, such as Thomas Leon or Rohini Devasher, occupies the in-between space bordering the real and the fictitious, reached through the use of contemporary technology. At the other end of the scale, Emilie Peythieu finds inspiration in waste and debris, the product of urban living and consumerism. References are made to a miscellany of sources, from spaghetti westerns to Marcus Garvey, and materials range from the mass-produced to the ancient and homemade.
• While the National Gallery has previously hosted exhibitions from France, in collaboration with the French government, this exhibition represents a first in terms of contemporary international art on such a large scale – from Japan, Great Britain, USA, Brazil, Australia, South Korea, India, Russia and France among other countries. The focus on young artists from across the globe provides visitors with a unique opportunity to discover and explore the work of emerging artists internationally.
• South Africa's premier art venue houses outstanding collections of South African, African, British, French, Dutch and Flemish art. Selections from the Permanent Collection change regularly to enable the museum to have a full program of temporary exhibitions of paintings, works on paper, photography, sculpture, beadwork, textiles and architecture. They provide insight into the extraordinary range of aesthetic production in this country, the African continent and further afield.