EXPO CHICAGO

2024 marks thirty years of democracy in South Africa. Everard Read has chosen to frame our exhibitions and fair offerings this year under the banner of ‘We, the people’. The first line of the 1996 South African constitution, this phrase was borrowed from the 1955 Freedom Charter and originally mid-wifed in the preamble to the constitution of the United States of America.

At a time of universally dwindling democracy, rampant polarisation and increased demoralisation, our ambition is to encourage reflective conversations around agency, inclusivity, multiplicity and community. We celebrate and reassert the hard-won freedom of expression as a cornerstone of our (albeit messy and fractious) democracy, as well as the artist’s crucial role as citizen and cultural practitioner in evolving conversations and narratives in our vibrant, volatile, and versatile country.

Artists featured in our presentation will be:

Githan Coopoo, Ricky Dyaloyi, Thonton Kabeya, Teresa Kutala Firmino, Lady Skollie, Speelman Mahlangu, Warren Maroon, Gerhard Marx, Nandipha Mntambo, Daniel 'Kgomo ' Morolong, Nigel Mullins, Brett Murray, Blessing Ngobeni, Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi, Brett Charles Seiler, Tafadzwa Tega and Atang Tshikare