The course of humankind periodically pivots due to a moment of insightful genius: a lightning strike – or perhaps the friction of two stones – was once transformed into the first controlled fire, a critical evolutionary landmark in the development of society.

The control over energy is, and will always be, defining the history of humans, providing at once the wonders and the controversies we face today.

About one million years after that first spark, a stone’s throw from that first campfire – now the core of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, where NIROX Sculpture Park lies at its heart – 20 artists from around the globe explore and reflect upon the sources, control, sustenance and sharing of the energy that underpins and dominates existence. .

Against this backdrop curators, Lorena Guillén Vaschetti and Adam Jeppesen, have invited 18 artists from far afield to bring their voices to the exhibition Power of Site:

Richard Forbes used the energy of a running river to carve shapes out of wooden blocks. Moataz Nasr contemplates the energy from form through his Egyptian origin in the Sunboat; Marina Abramović takes the energy from Tesla’s Urn; Danae Stratou reveals the pulse beneath the waters; Little Sun, a solar powered lantern created by Olafur Eliasson, will light the path during a night walk into the hinterland. James Webb creates a spatial intervention especially for this exhibition. Willem Boshoff looks to the histories, druidic portents and energies hidden within and evoked by the placement of ancient stones. Michael Mieskes’ ‘found objects’ appear as an archeological site of the future. Lorena Guillén Vaschetti‘s sound sculpture reminds that all is one; Marco Miehling contemplates the energy created by the ongoing opposing condition of movement and resistance. We follow in the footsteps of Richard Long who has walked the lands of the Cradle, leaving at NIROX two pieces that are both art and testimony of this unique experience.

It is rewarding to see that many of the participating artists have conceived and produced their work for the show while in residence at NIROX over the past year. This unprecedented level of interaction results in works that are deeply connected to the site, at the same time extending the artists’ scope and stimulating the many local artists and visitors with whom they have engaged.

List of participating artists:

Marina Abramović (USA), Willem Boshoff (SA), Richard Forbes (SA), Riyas Komu (IND), Richard Long (UK) (Existing works), Gerald Machona (SA), Rhett Martyn (SA), Marco Miehling (GER),  Michael Mieskes (GER), Moataz Nasr (EGY), Olu Oguibe (USA), 58 Collective: Elena Rocchi (ITL) & Hester Reeve (UK), Jake Singer (SA), Danae Stratou (GRC), Adejoke Tugbiyele (USA/Nigeria), Lorena Guillén Vaschetti (ARG), Warther │ Dixon (SA), James Webb (SA)

Curated in collaboration with: Lorena Guillén Vaschetti (Argentina) & Adam Jeppesen (Denmark)

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www.niroxarts.com