Wandering In Silva, or “in the forest” you will encounter a visual narrative “brought to life”.
Similar to a tableau vivant or a “living picture”, a visual narrative can either be performed live or depicted through an artwork. Conventionally the actors are stationary and silent, carefully posed with props and scenery while the emphasis is placed on the pose and facial expression. As a type of freeze- frame story, the tableau refers to the moments leading up to the frozen moment while also providing you with the opportunity to speculate what could happen directly thereafter.
The artists Mandy Coppes-Martin, Allen Laing, Tsoku Maela, Maja Maljevic, Rosemarie Marriott, Richard “Specs” Ndimande, Anastasia Pather, Jaco van Schalkwyk, Diane Victor, Gina Waldman and curator Dineke van der Walt collaborate to activate the gallery as a space in which different plots can unfold. The individual artworks – each referencing its own inherent topic – can be viewed as a series of isolated moments, that in relation to each other might form a continuation of events and therefore also a story. It, however, relies on the viewer to cross the narrative threshold and explore the various narrative threads.
The exhibition opens Thursday 23 August, 18:30 at Kalashnikovv Gallery and will run until Saturday 1 September. In Silva is curated by Dineke van der Walt, recipient of the 2018 Fulcrum Suzanne Shaw Creative Award presented by Fulcrum, the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios and Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), in association with Kalashnikovv Gallery.