As the earth rotates and spins, existing in a cold and infinite universe, each life force has their own singular and intimate relationship with the sky. We transfix our observations towards the stars and to an unknown and boundless elsewhere. Looking out towards the cosmos is one of the oldest shared experiences, the significance of observing the galaxy spans over thousands of years of cultural practice whether religious, artistic and/or scientific. The exhibition “Interfacing New Heavens” brings together two different positions that contemplate the entanglement of science, art and indigenous knowledge systems and their inquiry within the discursive terrain of astronomy.
The series of works by Vanessa Lorenzo and Tebogo George Mahashe reflects on the potentials of these interactions and their affect on our present. Vanessa Lorenzo was immersed in a transdisciplinary and cultural exchange with astronomers at the South African Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town and Sutherland, South Africa. George Mahashe undertook artistic research at the Astronomy Department of the University of Geneva, Switzerland. The three month Residency Exchange was curated and organized by the artists-in-labs program of the Zurich University of the Arts in 2018. You are invited to the online opening of the exhibition project INTERFACING NEW HEAVENS. The artists will be presenting parts of their research process in the form of sketches, images, working methods and possible detours elswhere.
A collaboration between the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria and the artist-in-labs program at the Zurich University of the Arts. Interfacing New Heavens is supported by Pro Helvetia Johannesburg and the Embassy of Switzerland in Pretoria. The exhibition and its public program is curated by Sinethemba Twalo, Irene Hediger and Flurin Fischer.