In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World

Comprising close to 190 objects, 250 images, and 10 multimedia interactives and films, the exhibition thoughtfully integrates historical artefacts, immersive media, and contemporary artworks into South Africa’s national art collection. Highlights include artist Daniel Minter’s large-format immersive installation, Universe of Freedom-making, which provides a dedicated space for contemplation, imagination, and exploring the diversity of Black freedom-making practices.


The title, Long Life, is a phrase of condolence in Jewish custom that honours those who have passed while offering hope and affirming that to live is a blessing. This sentiment resonates throughout Cohen’s work. At its core, Long Life speaks to compassion and indignation, belonging and loneliness, and the human connections that make life meaningful. Comprising installations, performance documentation, objects, images, films, and ephemera, the exhibition presents a loosely chronological survey of Cohen’s life and work, coalescing around key relationships that have shaped his artistic journey. From textile-based works of the late 1980s, to documentation of Cohen’s uninvited public interventions in the late 1990s and early 2000s, through to more recent performances conceived for the stage, the exhibition reflects the breadth of a profoundly influential career.

Additionally, the exhibition includes Unfinished Conversations, a central oral history initiative featuring filmed interviews of descendant communities discussing slavery, memory, race, and place on show at the Iziko Slave Lodge.

The exhibition is developed by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture alongside leading museums and scholars worldwide.

Please note: Winter Weekend Hours:
Saturdays: 08h30 - 16h00

LOADSHEDDING INFORMATION:
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Please be advised that the Iziko National Gallery is not operational during loadshedding.

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