Ephraim Mojalefa Ngatane (1938 – 1971), The Soccer Match (detail), 1961, 55 x 75cm
TWENTY-TEN
The exhibition Twenty-Ten: A selection of works from the SABC Art Collection ran in the foyer of the Radio Park building in Auckland Park, Johannesburg during 2010.
As the national broadcaster, the SABC was proud to display a selection of work from its art collection on the occasion of the 2010 FIFA World Cup: South Africa. As the occasion was a celebratory event – being the first time that the World Cup competition was held on the African continent – works were selected which reflected the particular vitality, creativity and social focus of a cross section of South Africa’s artistic community.
Sam Nhlengethwa (1955), Midnight Blues, 1999, triptych, oil and collage on canvas, 150 x 360cm
In this show there was a focus on social connectivity and human relationships, with many of the artworks featuring public life, sports, games, dancing – all the varied popular activities that bring people together. There is a mood of overblown emotion or theatricality in some works and a spirit of expansive freedom in others, while several capture the sense of exuberance, energy, joy or playfulness that we associate with leisure activities and public life.
Yet several works also capture the emotional complexity that informs our human connectedness, the ways in which we affect and influence one another, and the mysterious emotional shifts that can shape our transits between the private and public realms. Generally though, the spirit of this exhibition was upbeat and social, featuring works by artists including George Pemba, Santu Mofokeng, Diane Victor, Sam Nhlengethwa, William Kentridge, Paul Emmanuel, Tracey Rose and Robert Hodgins.