As the final public event linked to the Beyond the Gallery exhibition (running at the Trumpet Building since 30 July), this timely panel discussion brings together leading voices from architecture, heritage, curation, and arts writing to examine the future of the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG).
Established in 1910, the JAG houses one of the most significant art collections on the continent — and one of its most vulnerable. Structural decay, chronic under-resourcing, and years of neglect have put the collection at risk, prompting plans to move its holdings to temporary storage while the building itself faces an uncertain future. This panel asks: can the JAG be saved, reimagined, and made relevant to a 21st-century African city — and if so, how?
The discussion runs for 45–60 minutes, followed by a 30-minute public Q&A with the audience.
Moderator
- Alexander Opper is an artist, educator, writer, architect, and curator based in Johannesburg. He has taught in the University of Johannesburg’s Department of Architecture since 2007, where his practice-based research explores what he calls “Undoing Architecture” — a critical, reverse approach to architectural making. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Bayreuth.
Panelists
- Ashraf Jamal is a Research Associate in Visual Identities in Art and Design (VIAD) at the University of Johannesburg and the author of several books, including Predicaments of Culture in South Africa, In the World, Strange Cargo, and African Art: The Arak Collection. He is currently a UJ writer-in-residence, working on a memoir.
- Monika Läuferts le Roux is a German-born heritage specialist and architectural historian based in Johannesburg. A partner at Tsica heritage consultancy since 2009, her work includes historical research on Johannesburg’s Gas Works and heritage projects at the Johannesburg Main City Library and Johannesburg Art Gallery. She has lectured in architectural history at Wits and the University of Pretoria.
- Pholoso More is a PhD researcher, museum curator, and cultural strategist with over a decade of experience in South Africa’s cultural sector. Formerly Curator of Fashion & Textiles at Museum Africa, More consults through Beaux Monde Africa and works on training AI systems in world religions and cultural nuance.
- Brendan Hart is an academic, architect, heritage practitioner, and co-founder of Mayat Hart Architects + Heritage Consultants. He holds architectural degrees from Wits and a Master’s in Conservation of the Built Environment from UCT, and teaches architectural history at Wits.
- David Mann is a writer, editor, and arts journalist. He is currently Writer and Communications Manager at The Centre for the Less Good Idea and editor of the ARAK Journal. His short story collection, Once Removed (2024), was awarded the Thomas Pringle Short Story Prize.
- Byron Stroud is an architecture student at the University of Johannesburg exploring architecture, time and abandonment. Through design and photography, he examines neglected spaces, material decay and traces of human presence, asking how forgotten buildings might be reinterpreted and given new meaning.
- Hasina Sayed Mohammed is a Johannesburg-based architecture student whose practice explores memory, structure and belonging. Through drawing, research and design, she considers how architecture can preserve cultural narratives, reveal overlooked histories and create spaces for community, learning and connection.
About Beyond the Gallery
Most of the Johannesburg Art Gallery’s 10,000-work collection sits hidden in storage. Beyond the Gallery asks a radical question: What if the entire collection was on display all at once?
On view at The Atrium at Keyes Art Mile through 29 August, the exhibition showcases speculative designs by 3rd-year UJ Architecture students reimagining the gallery’s future, developed under a provocation set by Senior Lecturer Alexander Opper.
Presented by the UJ Department of Architecture and Keyes Art Mile, with support from Johannesburg In Your Pocket, IFAS, Corobrik, SAIA, GIfA, and IQOQO.