The Jewish Museum Premieres Two South African Exhibits Beginning, 5/2

Starting May 2 thru September 19, The Jewish Museum in NYC will premiere the two exhibits, South African Photographs: David Goldblatt and South African Projection: Films by William Kentridge.

South African Photographs: David Goldblatt, an exhibition of 150 black-and-white silver gelatin prints taken between 1948 and 2009, focuses on South Africa's human landscape in the apartheid and post-apartheid eras. David Goldblatt has used his camera to explore South Africa's mines; the descendants of seventeenth-century Dutch settlers called Afrikaners who were the architects of apartheid; life in Boksburg, a small middle-class white community; the Bantustans or "puppet states" in which blacks were forced to live; structures built for purposes ranging from shelter to commemoration; and Johannesburg, the city in which the photographer lives. South African Photographs: David Goldblatt is the largest New York City exhibition of Goldblatt's work since 2001.

Also on display are South African Projections: Films by William Kentridge. The four films feature South African artist William Kentridge's Drawings for Projection, 1989-91. Part of the Drawings for Projection series, these films depict the fictional Jewish characters Soho Eckstein and Felix Teitelbaum, who begin as alteregos of each other. While the latter is initially part self-portrait, the artist complicates this, as protagonist and antagonist exchange attributes as the sequences progress. The characters metaphorically play out the social, political, and moral legacy of apartheid as they go about their lives. Kentridge's filmed narratives explore political themes in recent South African history, while addressing personal and universal concerns; the nature of memory, greed, love, and jealousy.

The Jewish Museum is located on Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street, New York, NY, South African Projections: Films by William Kentridge open on Tuesday, May 2 and run until September 19. from 10 am to 1 pm. Admission for Adults is $12, $10 for Seniors (65 and over with ID), $7.50 for Students (full-time with valid ID), and Free for Children under 12. For more information, call 212-423-3271 or visit www.thejewishmuseum.org.

Museum Hours

Sunday 11:00 am - 5:45 pm
Monday 11:00 am - 5:45 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am - 5:45 pm
Wednesday CLOSED
Thursday 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Friday (3/13/10-11/1/10) 11:00 am - 5:45 pm (EDT)
Saturday  11:00 am - 5:45 pm