69 Burg Street
City Bowl
Cape Town
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday
10:00 - 16:00 Visit Website
With an increasing focus on African Art around the world, Eclectica Contemporary aims to present a carefully selected and focused collection of art from the continent that interrogates the issues facing us in a globalized world. The art at Eclectica often shows practices and materials familiar from art history but which push these boundaries and explore uncharted territories of representation, technique and theory.
Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Eclectica Contemporary sees itself as an African gallery with an international vision. We celebrate the diversity and depth of art making on our continent while aiming to contextualize this for a growing global market.
Our program of exhibitions shows a mix of solo shows by gallery artists alongside curated group shows. In addition, the Eclectica Contemporary exhibition space has facilities for experimental, new media and project-based works.
Crossing Over is a solo exhibition by João Ladeira, which features mixed media works installed on Eclectica Contemporary’s ground floor gallery. Working mostly with brightly coloured Dutch wax fabric that has become ubiquitous across many African countries, Ladiera’s works reflect on these surfaces that have become a contemporary symbol of African attire and textiles and the bodies that exist amongst and in relation to their relating histories.
The exhibition aims to contribute meaningfully to the current discourse on the displacement of people and social cohesion. Ladiera sees it as an opportunity to give voice to the voiceless through art and to celebrate the greatness of this continent. He explains, “as an artist, I believe that I have a social responsibility to make a positive comment, no matter how small, to engage my audience in this dialogue. I further believe that by shifting the focus from the negative and confrontation, as manifest in this tragedy and brutal images, I will be giving a chance to the audience to look at the migrants, men, women and children from a different angle. Consequently, this act aims to restore the dignity of the migrants and sensitise the passive spectator to take an interest in the suffering of migrants”.
1 October 2020
20 Dixon Street
67 Loop Street
212a Buitengracht Street
155 Loop Street
163 Bree Street
113 Loop Street
53 Church Street
35 Church Street
