On the cusp

On The Cusp

An exhibition of artworks by 10 young African artists, On the Cusp is about revealing and unravelling the creative talents of tomorrow. Focused on graduating visual art students and young art practitioners who have pushed their creative boundaries and sit on the cusp of beauty and magic through their aesthetic, conceptual, critical, material choice, form or installation methods.

On the Cusp: Libertas Parva (Little Libertas), 25-33 Dorp Street, Stellenbosch

The Stellenbosch Triennale

Africa’s first Trienalle in Stellebosch will present contemporary art from African in a critical dialogue with the society that creates and fosters it. The list of African artists selected by Mbongwa and her co-curators reads like a who’s who of contemporary art from Africa. The Artists on the official selection of the Stellenbosch Triennale 2020 are all of international standing, the exhibition representing a collection of artists whose works are on display in museums internationally.

Made possible by Distell, and expertly curated by Ghanian artist and writer Bernard Akoi-Jackson, conceptually, On The Cusp references the idea of the accumulated potential that an individual or generation possesses at a crucial interval of time – just before the onset of something great.

The exhibition is one of Stellenbosch Triennale’s identifying exhibitions – a core part of the programme, initiated by chief curator Khanyisile Mbongwa.

The works

About the content of the On The Cusp exhibition, Akoi-Jackson says, “Contemporary artists are, as a matter of fact, dealing with myriads of issues. Generally the old issues African artists have dealt with would not all of a sudden, not go away; but young artists don’t necessarily feel that it is urgent to hang on to some of the old issues. Perhaps the best way to say it is that they are aware of their time, they are clothed with the hindsight of the histories that have existed up till now and they are looking at the old issues through new lenses, and these could literally be VR oculi, AR simulations or and existence somewhere in a virtual domain. They are moving with time, but also moving in and beyond time.”