At Iziko South African National Gallery, material is never simply material. It carries memory, labour, history and the possibility of transformation.
12 August 2026
What happens when we encounter an artwork first through what it is made of?
‘MATEREALITY V2’, opening at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town, turns our attention to the physical substance of art and the complex histories embedded within it. Bringing together works through the lens of materiality, the exhibition asks us to look beyond image and form, towards the social, cultural and political lives of the materials themselves.
Here, matter becomes a language. Texture, surface, weight and process reveal how artists transform the ordinary into something charged with meaning. Materials carry traces of place and production, of human hands and inherited knowledge, inviting questions around value, memory, identity and belonging.
In a world increasingly experienced through screens, ‘MATEREALITY V2’ makes a compelling case for looking closely at the tangible. It reminds us that art is not only something we see. It is something made, handled, altered and felt.
This is an exhibition that rewards curiosity. Come for the artworks, stay for the stories held within their substance.
This exhibition will be on view at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town from 21 August 2026 until 30 June 2027.
