Wanderer - charcoal, by Rachelle Hugo.
The year 2020 marks the beginning of a new chapter in human history, where digitalisation has become the norm - the “new normal” - and science fiction has become reality, a virtual reality... dramatic, and traumatic for most at the same time.
But the exhibition titled A Whole New World? - which is open for public viewing at the Liebrecht Gallery in Somerset West, from the end of October, is about something different.
It is about the question of whether this “new normal” might also lead to a change of heart, to put it in simple terms.
The lockdown isolation resulted in many starting to reflect on matters which have little to do with the material - appreciating family and friends, recognising the needs of others, compassion, the preciousness of life, the senseless pursuit of fame and fortune at the expense of others, to name a few - and underlying this reflection on values is the realisation that everything is interconnected.
Can a universal concern for the welfare of all of us also become the “new normal”? This is doubtful, considering human greed and ignorance, and for this reason the title of this exhibition is a question rather than a statement.
But this does not mean that one cannot imagine such a world. This is exactly what John Lennon did in his famous song written almost 50 years ago.
You may say he’s a dreamer, he wrote, but he also added that he is not the only one. And then his wish, tragically his final one: “I hope some day you will join us, and the world will live as one.”
The participating artists are Jaco Benade, Nicole Bouwer, Ydi Carstens, Marie-Adelè de Villiers, Rachelle Hugo, Lindi Lyra Lombard, Sharon Moses, Karen Pretorius, Rentia Retief, Marguerite Roux, Elbie Visser, and Stephanie Waldeck.
For more information, call Avril at 021 852 8030 or 082 682 5710.