Pioneering South African artist Sue Williamson opens her retrospective at Cape Town’s leading national museum—Iziko South African National Gallery—a vital institution dedicated to preserving and showcasing the country’s rich cultural heritage. Titled ‘There’s something I must tell you’ and curated by Andrew Lamprecht, her work over the past five decades has had a major impact on both the African continent and the international art world. Through ongoing series, Williamson delves into South Africa’s history and the broader African narrative, highlighting the stories of women activists, community leaders and the enduring legacies of colonialism and apartheid. The exhibition on view until 3 October 2025.
Williamson uses print media of every kind – newspapers, a passbook, travel brochures, a children’s colouring in book, postcards – to unpack key moments in South Africa and the continent’s complex and layered history. This is articulated through printmaking, photography, drawing, video, glass engraving, embroidery and installation.
This exhibition follows significant international solo and group shows, including ‘Between Memory and Forgetting’ at The Box, Plymouth, UK; ‘Other Voices, Other Cities’ at the Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas, the Canary Islands and ‘Tell Me What You Remember’, a two-person exhibition with Lebohang Kganye at the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, US. The retrospective includes artwork from all three of these shows, plus early work from the 1970s, new installations, contextual documentation and ephemera.
