Gabi Ngcobo to serve as Javett-UP Art Centre's acting curator

Ngcobo holds a BA in Fine Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal) and a Master’s in Curatorial Studies (Bard College, New York, United States). She is a co-founder of 3rd Eye Vision artists’ collective, the Centre for Historical Re-enactments and NGO - Nothing Gets Organised collaborative platforms. Over the past 15 years, Ngcobo has been engaged in local and international curatorial and educational projects. Last year, she curated All in a Day’s Eye: Politics of Innocence in the Javett Art Collection, which examined works from the Javett family collection (which remains on exhibition at the Javett-UP) and Mating Birds Vol. II at the KZNSA Gallery, eThekwini.

In 2018, she curated the 10th Berlin Biennale titled We Don’t Need Another Hero. From 2011 to 2020, she was a lecturer at the Wits School of Arts and is an advisor at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. She is currently a trustee of the Arts Centre Foundation, which has responsibility for the Javett-UP.

Ed Southey, the chairperson of the board of trustees of the Arts Centre Foundation, congratulated Ngcobo on her appointment. “Gabi has tremendous experience in curation and Javett-UP has already benefited from her expertise and perspective. I am confident that as acting curatorial director, she will ensure that the art centre goes from strength to strength, with a renewed vision and strength of purpose.”

Interim CEO Samuel Isaacs, agreed, adding: “Gabi has been instrumental in assisting the Javett-UP to further our vision of an art centre that is for everyone. We thank Gabi for offering us the benefit of her experience and skill.”

Ngcobo will assume her new role on 1 November.