Seatavern

Generations of women artists have been overlooked and sidelined despite their profound creative contributions. Many entered an art world that was underdeveloped and closed to women. In recent years, solo retrospectives for trailblazers like Sue Williamson and Esther Mhlangu have sparked overdue recognition, and auction records for Marlene Dumas have prompted institutions and collectors to reconsider older female artists’ practices, yet countless other female artists continue to work in the margins—unseen, undocumented, and undervalued.

SPEAKERS:

Emma Vandermerwe

Emma Vandermerwe is Head Curator and Director at Everard Read Cape Town, where she has led the gallery’s curatorial programme since 2014, following over a decade working in London’s contemporary art scene.

Christina Fortune

Christina Leigh Fortune is Associate Curator at EBONY/CURATED, where she has curated exhibitions including Journey Mercies (14 May – 14 June 2025), a group show exploring post-apartheid grief, spiritual inheritance, and the evolution of resistance.

Virginia MacKenny

Virginia MacKenny is a practicing artist and Emeritus Associate Professor of Painting at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town. Her work and research engage contemporary Southern African art with a focus on environmental and feminist concerns. She has exhibited and curated internationally, with recent projects including Strand/Shore (2021) and Dust on the Wind (2024).

Nkgopoleng Moloi (moderator)

Nkgopoleng Moloi is co-curator of this year’s Heat Festival and editor of South Africa’s leading contemporary art journal, ArtThrob, where she shapes critical discourse on contemporary art.

Curated by Art School Africa