The 2025 focused exhibition at JCAF is Structures, a group showing that brings together artists and architects from the South who engage with questions of space, place and race. Each year, early winter marks one of the most exciting times for Joburg’s art world. It’s when the Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation (JCAF) generally unveil their key exhibition for the year, which continues to grow in popularity each year. Here’s what you need to know about the exhibition.
Understanding Worldmaking, JCAF’s multi-year project series
JCAF is currently undertaking a three-year programme under the umbrella theme of Worldmaking. The art foundation looks to consider the kind of world we want to inhabit and leave behind through a trilogy of exhibitions and an accompanying series of talks and publications.
Last year, JCAF presented Ecospheres (2024), a reflection on the natural world. This year, Structures (2025) focuses on the built environment, and next year’s Futures (2026) will explore the techno-future.
All about Structures
The exhibition presents aspects and possibilities in the connection between people and places. Within this broad theme, issues of race, colonialism, migration and modernism are examined through a series of otherworldly installations. Structures is curated in three interconnected sections: situatedness, infrastructures and typologies.
One of the key features is the immersive South African Pavilion from the 2024 Venice Biennale (originally commissioned by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture). The interactive work tells the story of a city made of couscous by a women-led architectural collective. On display are delicate photographs that capture light in Tunisia, and a reconstructed Brazilian installation from the 1970s that visitors can walk on, over, and through.
The first section, situatedness, explores the relationship between space and subjectivities through the lens of translation, memory, heritage, and migration. Here, artworks by Kamyar Bineshtarigh, Hajra Waheed, Jellel Gasteli and Kader Attia are in dialogue.
The second section, infrastructures, considers how architecture relates to power and ideology. It references both formal architecture and informal dwellings, highlighting the contrast between ideology and iconography. This section includes works by David Goldblatt, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Matri-Archi(tecture) and Hélio Oiticica.
The final section, typologies, reveals the sensorial and abstract qualities of personal and collective practices and rituals in both urban and rural contexts through installations by Igshaan Adams and MADEYOULOOK.
Find out more about the featured artists on the JCAF Knowledge Talks podcast
The JCAF Knowledge Talks podcast presents a series of one-on-one conversations with experts based in the Global South, offering listeners insights into different disciplines in the arts and sciences.
The Podcast is led by art critic Ashraf Jamal and recorded in the Foundation’s Reading Room. Each expert invited to the podcast shares their unique insight into various disciplines, with conversations ranging from astrophysics and sustainable food practices to AI and architecture.
Featured guests include Igshaan Adams and the MADEYOULOOK collective, among many more industry experts. Listen to both past and upcoming episodes on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
More about the podcast
Need to know before you go
Cost: Admission to JCAF is free, and bookings are required. Reserve your visit here
When: Running until 15 November 2025. Tuesday to Saturday, based on bookings. Closed on Sunday, Monday and public holidays
Where: The Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation (JCAF), No 1 Durris Road, Forest Town, Johannesburg
Website: jcaf.org.za
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 010 900 2204
Instagram: @foundation_jcaf
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