Remembering and Forgetting: Landscapes in Dialogue
A survey exhibition: Kim Berman
The landscape in my work has always been a metaphor for social, environmental and political events, expressed through darkness and light on the horizon.
7 August - 4 Septemer 2025
This exhibition of remembering and forgetting excavates my past works. Some date back to my student days in the 80s that have never been shown in South Africa, and some are very recent. As I’ve selected these works, I’ve been struck by the degree to which the themes recur - always somewhat changed - but appearing as a dialogue between different landscapes - saying similar things in different ways, bringing new perspectives on the same issues, and new issues that emerge with familiar historical roots.
One of the core ideas I explore in this exhibition is “rusted ghosts”. I have re-claimed rusted old etched plates, cut them in pieces, and re-used them to link the past with present. Some images show foreboding traces of war and destruction over faded burnt landscapes and evoke the horror of the world at war pervading our daily consciousness. But always there is a glimmer of light on the horizon, and somewhere in the image, a sign of life. Another recurring metaphor is fields of mourning sunflowers that express collective grief, yet drop their seeds and continually regenerate. Fire and smoke are pervasive in my work. Smoke evokes fire while also obscuring it. In that way it masks and reveals, it chokes and beautifies. Fire burns and destroys, it also renews the earth.
The exhibition is grouped in broad and overlapping themes:
A recent home fire that burnt down my office and destroyed all its contents was extraordinary in its nature and timing - connected with this exhibition. Although there was significant damage, it was limited, in contrast with the devastating destruction of the fire at Artist Proof Studio in 2003. It has awakened so many memories and feelings, and brought alive my deep creative connection with the power and metaphor of fire to destroy and recreate.
The work attempts to hold the paradoxes of the land damaged by purposeful destruction and yet contains within it the hope of empathetic humanity.
It feels timely to coincide this debut show as part of the 20th birthday celebrations of UJ, and at the juncture of 31 years of my tenure. While I have sporadically created work, I have not held a solo exhibition for 15 years. Over that time, my energy and time have been directed to my work as an educator, researcher and activist. But it feels wonderful to be making art again. Having facilitated over 20 post graduate student exhibitions at UJ, this exhibition has been an opportunity to reflect, renew, and reinvent myself as a visual artist in my retirement year at 65.
Acknowledgements:
Collaboration is key to my practice. As a printmaker and educator, I have always valued the notion of co-creation.
This exhibition and catalogue has been a communal endeavour and so I acknowledge my appreciation of everyone’s involvement and partnership with heartfelt gratitude.
First the emotional support from my partner Robyn, my sisters Lori, Cindy, and Hayley, and my late mom Mona, for their consistent reassurance of my identity as a visual artist.
Gordon Froud, my very supportive HOD who suggested that I have a solo exhibition as a culmination of my sabbatical leave.
Dineke Orton and her team at the UJ Art Galley, for their dedicated support and encouragement in accepting my proposal and dreaming ambitious curatorial possibilities with me.
The brilliant Gabriel Baard, who collaborated with me on the Sebidi exhibition and for his enthusiastic support in brainstorming this exhibition and designing the digital catalogue as a website.
Mandy Conidaris, who readily agreed to edit my catalogue and coordinate the very many loose and stray ends into very coherent order to enable smooth production.
Rhys Gordon, the wonderful graphic designer who generously embraced this project with enthusiasm, and ensured his very fine design permeated across the catalogue and exhibition.
Nico Ras, who photographed and edited hundreds of prints with such grace and proficiency.
The UJ Art Gallery interns Erin Domingo and Aneesah Girie, who meticulously labelled, measured, documented, and scanned numerous artworks and records.
The extraordinary UJ Art Gallery team, from Lakin Morgan-Baatjies’ management of the promotion and marketing, to the installation team Titus Rakgoathe and Bongani Senne.
Prof Vicky Graham, for her consistent and generous response in supporting this exhibition through the UJ Global, Excellence and Stature Fund (GES).
Thank you to my Artist Proof Studio and DoVA colleagues for their support in enabling the very precious gift of time to spend in my studio.
The writers for my catalogue are friends and colleagues who know or knew my work when I was an active artist, and my sister Hayley who stood with me in excavating and finding rich meaning from the recovery of the fires. Their essays are poignant and profoundly moving in their empathy and understanding.
I could not feel more blessed or grateful for the extraordinary support that made this exhibition possible