Why do we write about art? What does it do—for us, for artists, the industry, the world? What is the state of arts media in South Africa, today? Where can writers publish? Moderated by David Mann, this discussion between art writers Christa Dee, Barbara Rousseaux, and Rob Scher, will move between the contextual and the personal, touching on the state of contemporary arts criticism while identifying some of the emergent, alternative forms of writing about art, today.
Venue | Gallery 1/Atrium, Keyes Art Mile, Rosebank
Date | Thursday 31 July
Time | 18h00
RSVP | https://forms.gle/mFGBTmXti5vvtt8SA
Bárbara Rousseaux is an Argentine economist, researcher and writer based in Johannesburg. Throughout her career, Bárbara has worked across disciplines and coordinated cultural projects, human rights initiatives, and worked as an arts journalist. She currently works at the Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation (JCAF) as Project Manager for Latin America and Managing Editor for the JCAF Journal. Bárbara is also the co-founder of drift, a literary agency that represents African authors in Latin America and Spain. Her texts on contemporary art, film and politics have been published by Africa is a Country, Sunday Times, Mail & Guardian, Le Quotidien de l’Art, ArtThrob and others.
David Mann is an award-winning writer, editor and art critic from Johannesburg, South Africa, who writes at the intersections of art, architecture, performance, and fiction. He is the former editor of the arts publications Between 10and5, Creative Feel, Cue, and the ARAK Journal. He currently works as the writer for the arts incubator The Centre for the Less Good Idea, and writes about art and performance for a number of local and international publications as well as independent artists and organisations. His collection of short fiction about the South African art world, Once Removed, was published by Botsotso Publishing in 2024. That same year, he was awarded the Thomas Pringle Short Story Prize for his story ‘Meaningful Contributions’.
Christa Dee is a Johannesburg-based writer and cultural programmer with a background in Anthropology. Over her nearly decade-long career in the creative sector, she has led and contributed to writing projects and public programming for both individual practitioners and large-scale organisations. Her experience includes serving as Editor at Bubblegum Club, Content and Online Public Programme Manager for Goodman Gallery’s special project SOUTH SOUTH, as well as Communications and Press Lead for the gallery. She currently works at Pro Helvetia as the Programme Manager for Southern Africa. Christa has also written for local and international publications, including Mail & Guardian, ArtThrob, Contemporary And, FOAM, and others.
Robin Scher holds a masters in International Relations from the University of Cape Town and another in journalism, specialising in Cultural Reporting and Criticism, from NYU. He earns his living as a content director at Razor PR. Occasionally, he publishes his and others creative works on a publishing platform he co-founded called Phasmid Press (@phasimid_press). A couple years ago, he unwittingly found his way into the ‘art world’, working as an editorial assistant for Art News Magazine, and later wittingly found his way out after being employed as a comms director for a Gallery.