Johannesburg’s creative pulse beats louder than ever this year as the Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation (JCAF) unveils Structures (2025), the second instalment in its ambitious three-year Worldmaking exhibition series.
Following Ecospheres (2024), which reflected on the natural world, Structures turns its gaze to the built environment—examining how our cities, communities, and cultural identities are constructed, both physically and metaphorically.
What is ‘Structures’ about?
At its core, Structures explores how artists and architects from the Global South respond to space, place, and race in their work. But this isn’t just an exhibition of buildings and blueprints it’s an exploration of how architecture, history, politics, and poetry intertwine.
From monuments and informal settlements to the walls of a panel beater’s workshop and the contested terrain of Constitution Hill, this thought-provoking show challenges us to reconsider what "structure" really means.
Is it a physical form? A cultural framework? Or a legacy passed down through generations?
Five standout installations you can’t miss
The South African Pavilion from the 2024 Venice Biennale: Originally commissioned by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, this immersive installation makes its powerful local debut.
A city made of couscous: Yes, couscous! This edible material is used as a metaphor for Algerian cultural heritage, prompting questions around memory, fragility, and community.
A women-led architectural collective’s interactive piece: Explore how female perspectives reimagine spatial justice and urban planning through touch, movement, and design.
Light-filled photographs from Tunisia: Jellel Gasteli’s delicate photographic work captures the ethereal play of light in North African structures, blending aesthetics with cultural depth.
A reconstructed 1970s Brazilian installation you can walk through: Experience Hélio Oiticica’s reimagined artwork—yes, visitors are encouraged to move over, through, and within it.
Art meets activism and everyday life
While rooted in political discourse, Structures also embraces the poetics of materiality. From Cape Town’s “desire lines” that defy apartheid spatial planning, to stories of displacement among the Bahurutshe and Bakoni peoples, every piece prompts reflection.
The exhibition also explores how people themselves become infrastructure—shaping, resisting, and recreating the environments around them.
“How have indigenous forms of artistry, tradition and knowledge contributed to architecture and everyday life in the Global South especially in a South African context?” says Clive Kellner, Executive Director and curator at JCAF.
Featured artists include:
- Igshaan Adams (South Africa)
- Kader Attia (Algeria/France)
- Kamyar Bineshtarigh (Iran/South Africa)
- David Goldblatt (South Africa)
- Kiluanji Kia Henda (Angola)
- MADEYOULOOK (South Africa)
- Matri-Archi(tecture) (South Africa/Switzerland)
- Hélio Oiticica (Brazil)
- Hajra Waheed (India)
- And more, including projects by Wolff Architects, Rebecca Potterton, and Stephen Hobbs
As conversations around identity, sustainability, and urban living take centre stage globally, Structures gives Joburg a world-class platform to engage, reflect and respond through art. Don’t miss this deeply relevant, visually striking, and politically charged exhibition happening at the Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation (JCAF), Forest Town, Johannesburg. Structures (2025) is open to the public with pre-booked timed entry but booking is essential via jcaf.org.za
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