30 September to 3 December 2017
Gallery 1, 2 & 3

MINE – The Film Will Always Be With You is an exhibition of video works by a selection of South African artists. These artists are based both in South Africa and across European capitals. MINE was last shown at TATE Modern, London.

MINE is both the title of the exhibition as well as the film produced by William Kentridge in 1991. This seminal animated video evokes images of deep level mining in South Africa and refers to the unprecedented exploitation of land and people under colonialism and the subsequent apartheid system.

The title refers not only to the idea of deep level mining, but to the idea of personal ownership and questions of identity. The works featured have been chosen for their diversity, with the common denominator that the artists make reference to themselves in their work, either in person, as actor, model, observer, interviewer or instigator. MINE seeks to explore the myriad ways in which we identify and position our ‘selves’.

Certain artists are well known in the global art world (William Kentridge and Robin Rhode et al), or are currently representing South Africa at the 2017 Venice Biennale of Art (Mohau Modisakeng), whilst other are unknown in Australia. No matter how varied the themes and artistic strategies may be, all the works presented here are centred in one way or another around specifically “South African” issues, which transcend the confines of particular local concerns.