British Council Connect ZA, in collaboration with Ithuba Arts Gallery, has invited three innovative, independent or artist-run visual arts spaces in the UK to realise LAB, a three part exhibition, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Programme
LAB brings together three innovative, independent artist-run spaces from the UK to take over the Ithuba Arts Gallery. Acting as a hub for collaboration and connection between British and South African visual arts scenes, this exhibition considers the possibilities opened up by working cross-culturally.

British Council Connect ZA invited the director of Ithuba Arts Gallery to visit the UK to research the visual arts scene and build relationships with independent or artist-run visual arts spaces. Through this process the gallery identified Auto Italia (London), Banner Repeater (London) and Eastside Projects (Birmingham) as partners to work with on this exhibition.

These three spaces then travelled to Johannesburg to learn about the local artistic context through studio visits with artists, site visits of the city’s major public, commercial and independent visual arts spaces and tours of the city’s architectural landmarks. The exhibition you see here is the outcome of this engagement with Johannesburg and its creatives. It is divided into three unique yet connected components.

About Ithuba
Since its inception in 2011, the Ithuba Arts Fund, founded by the Citiq Group, has supported 22 artists. The project is focused on providing a platform for emerging artists based in and around Johannesburg.