Comic art and satire are given special attention this week.
? ‘Meeting him was probably as close as I’ve ever come to a religious experience.” That’s how political cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, better known as Zapiro, described his first encounter with Nelson Mandela in a 2009 interview in Leadership magazine. ‘Since then I’ve always had in my mind the image of Madiba as a giant, taking great strides across the nation, with a throng of diminutive people at his heels. And I’m among them, documenting, commenting, satirising.” The exhibition, Zapiro: Jiving with Madiba, features 130 works by Zapiro that trace the life of Mandela — from prisoner to president to pensioner.
South African Jewish Museum, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, until September 27.
? Co/Mix is a new initiative at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown to highlight the artists working in comic art, illustration and visual narrative. 9involves 28 artists, four of them from Europe. The exhibition at the Co/Mix pavilion involves 28 artists, four of them from Europe, and is complemented by a gallery shop and a programme of talks and workshops. The event also has an outdoor component with artists doing murals.
Pringle Hall, Grahamstown Monument, Grahamstown, until July 10.