Mountain & Maritime Mythologies
Mountain & maritime mythologies explores visual representations of folklore relating to South Africa’s diverse mountain & maritime environments with a focus on Cape Muslim, amaXhosa, San, amaZulu & European knowledge systems.
Cyril Coetzee’s T’kama Adamastor connects a constellation of mythologies surrounding the Cape. A series of prints by Cecil Skotnes thread through the exhibition, telling stories of sea voyages, the geographies of the Cape & the life of Shaka kaSenzangakhona, King of the Zulus. San rock paintings of European ships & wagons reflect on how indigenous people understood the arrival of the settlers.
Maps are positioned as mythologies due to the ways in which Europeans projected their desires & biases on to these early depictions of the African continent.
African Birds
Artists showcased in this exhibition:
Graeme Arnott
Thomas Baines
Phillip Clancey
William T Cooper
Gail Darroll
C G Finch-Davis
John & Elizabeth Gould
David Ord Kerr
Geoffrey Lockwood
Harold M Millar
Kenneth Newman
Auguste Pelletier
Harry Oppenheimer
“As Chairman of Anglo American and De Beers, Harry Oppenheimer held sway over his family’s gold and diamond empire for a quarter of a century. He combined a passion for commerce with a streak of creative genius.”
Harry Oppenheimer: Diamonds, gold and dynasty by Michael Cardo
Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2023
Past Exhibitions
THE 1922 RAND REBELLION
CHARLES HAMILTON SMITH
African hoofed animals
ZULU WARS
ELLAPHIE WARD-HILHORST
Botanical artist
THOMAS BOWLER
Artist at the Cape
THE FOUNDING OF JOHANNESBURG
CONSTANCE STUART LARRABEE
1914–2000
MAJOR A B CREE
British Regiments in South Africa 1795–1902
THE BINDERY AT THE BRENTHURST LIBRARY
Taking care of the collection
FREDERICK TIMPSON I’ONS
1802–1887
