FOREX

Foreign exchange, or Forex, typifies the interconnectedness of global networks of information. This project series uses Forex as a metaphor for an exchange of artistic ideas with a world beyond Africa.

Themes prevalent in South African art - history, politics, marginality and, more broadly, the human condition - appear to differ starkly from the dominant concerns of international contemporary art. Looking at Europe and the United States (still the heart of the art world, despite its internationalisation) from elsewhere, it can be difficult to relate to the coldness, cynicism and self-referential nature of much of the work and the surrounding debates. As a result, it is tempting to retreat into an oppositional stance, one that pits concerns of the periphery against those of the centre, the outsider against the system.

The system, however, is kaleidoscopic in nature. When we start looking carefully, we see glimpses of ourselves in the little pieces of coloured glass that make up the larger pattern. Artists (and curators) exist whose concerns parallel our own, and who are operating within the museums, galleries, art fairs and biennales that make up the mainstream art world. By bringing minds like these to South Africa, FOREX aims to seek out affinities, illustrate shared frames of reference and explore intellectual kinship.

The FOREX series

FOREX builds on the increasingly international nature of Michael Stevenson's programming. Initially conceived to run for a year culminating in the group exhibition This is Our Time, the FOREX series has become an integral part of the gallery's programming and will continue to run indefinitely.