Media release
Zeitz MOCAA’s latest Atelier artist-in-residence Berni Searle’s residency titled On Site offers visitors unique proximity to her work
Launched in 2019, the Zeitz MOCAA Atelier residency programme provides an exploratory space for Cape Town-based artists
Searle’s Atelier residency opened 20 June 2024 and runs through 2 March 2025
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(Cape Town, 30 July 2024): Now in its sixth iteration, the Zeitz MOCAA Atelier residency programme welcomes Berni Searle as its latest resident for the next eight months. Born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1964, Searle’s personal experiences of growing up against the backdrop of an apartheid state, has deeply influenced her work and artistic expression. Titled On Site, the residency opened 20 June 2024 and runs through 2 March 2025.
Searle’s practice spans photography, video, performance, and installation and offers visitors unique proximity to her work. Key selections from previous bodies of work, as well as sketches, objects, and publications, are on view, whilst she develops new ideas in-situ.
The spaces of the Atelier house distinct functions, including a dedicated room where visitors can view a substantial collection of her moving image works. The galleries also provide space for conversation and rest, an area with photographic backdrops and a central area for working on larger scale installation ideas. Searle’s practice is often project based, assembling skills and various expertise to realise works in different sites as needed. The Atelier is a moment for the artist to work and think continuously and consistently in a formal studio environment and connects her to museum visitors from diverse backgrounds.
“The city of Cape Town is central to my practice, which is connected to the experiences and narratives of its people, its histories, and poetics, both troubled and transcendent. I draw from my own biography, as an inhabitant of the city,” says Searle. “The residency is a celebration of this relationship to place and On Site situates me within my context as an affirmation; with the studio functioning as a site for reflection, observation, and play,” she adds.
The Zeitz MOCAA Atelier is an experimental platform and residency located on Level 2 of the museum and occupies a multi gallery of 400 square metres. In addition to providing an exploratory space for Cape Town-based artists, the Atelier is open to the public, allowing visitors to Zeitz MOCAA access and insight into the artists’ modes of production and processes. Previous residents include Kemang Wa Lehulere, Thania Petersen, Haroon GunnSalie, Igshaan Adams and Unathi Mkonto.
Zeitz MOCAA’s curatorial and exhibition programming is generously supported by Gucci, Mellon Foundation, and BMW Group South Africa.
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Please find further media materials for Atelier: Berni Searle — On Site, including the artist’s full biography and images, here. For media enquiries, contact Evaan Jason Ferreira at evaanjason.ferreira@zeitzmocaa.museum
Issued by Zeitz MOCAA Communications.
MEDIA TOOLKITAbout Zeitz MOCAA
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) is a public not-for-profit institution that collects, preserves, researches and exhibits contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora; conceives and hosts international exhibitions; develops supporting educational, discursive and enrichment programmes; encourages intercultural understanding; and strives towards access for all.
The museum’s galleries feature rotating temporary exhibitions with dedicated space for the permanent collection. The institution also includes the Centre for Art Education (CFAE), and The Atelier, a museum residency programme for artists living and working in Cape Town.
Zeitz MOCAA is situated at the Silo District, South Arm Road, V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa, and is open Monday through Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm (last entry at 5.30 pm).
zeitzmocaa.museum
About Gucci
Founded in Florence, Italy, in 1921, Gucci is one of the world’s leading luxury brands, led by President and CEO Marco Bizzarri and Creative Director Alessandro Michele. Following the House’s centenary, Gucci forges ahead into the next hundred years, continuing to redefine luxury while celebrating the creativity, craftsmanship and innovation at the core of its values.
Gucci is part of the global luxury group, Kering, which manages the development of a series of renowned Houses in fashion, leather goods, jewellery and watches.
gucci.com.
About the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the United States’ largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.
mellon.org.
About BMW
The fascination of the BMW Group lies not just in our products and technologies but in our history too, which has been written by inventors, pioneers and engineers. Today, the BMW Group is the world’s leading manufacturer of premium cars and motorcycles and a provider of premium financial and mobility services. We operate over 30 production sites around the world and a global sales network.
At the BMW Group, we know we have a responsibility to society and the world. That’s why we have fixed targets and values that govern the way we do business. With the help of our strategic focus, we want to make a meaningful contribution to a more sustainable world and combine top-flight mobility with innovative technologies.
www.bmwgroup.com