This publication accompanies Igshaan Adams' exhibition Primêre Wentelbaan at Thomas Dane Gallery in London (11 October-20 December 2023).
The title 'Primêre Wentelbaan' [Primary Orbit] alludes to the sites into which Adams first ventured as a child and adolescent, and serves as a way for Adams to think about how his early environment shaped his world-view.
In Primêre Wentelbaan, Adams presents three large-scale tapestries and hanging 'cloud' sculptures, conceived as an interconnected installation across the gallery walls and floor. The work reflects on the psycho-geographical environment and geopolitical context of his childhood in Bonteheuwel, a working-class segregated township on the Cape Flats southeast of Cape Town. Made using quotidian materials such as beads, rope, wire, glass and shells, these intensely intricate works elevate the material aspects of lived spaces and illuminate the personal and political histories and stories that they hold.
The publication features an essay by Tarini Malik.