The University of Johannesburg (UJ) Arts & Culture, a division of the Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture (FADA), proudly announces its 2026 Arts & Culture Programme.

Rooted in UJ’s vision for innovation, excellence, and societal impact, the programme delivers a curated selection of performances, exhibitions, residencies, and community-focused initiatives that connect artists and audiences while strengthening Johannesburg’s cultural ecosystem.

Building on the momentum of UJ’s 20th anniversary celebrations in 2025, the 2026 programme embraces the theme Ephemeral, reflecting on art as a fleeting yet transformative force. Across disciplines and platforms, the programme foregrounds presence, exchange, and shared experience—affirming the power of arts and culture to inspire dialogue, foster connection, and shape social consciousness.

“Within this year’s programme, Ephemeral becomes a lens through which to explore transformation, time, and presence. It invites us to reflect on what lingers after the curtain falls, the lights dim, or the exhibition doors close. By honouring the transient, the programme affirms the power of arts and culture not as fixed artefacts, but as living encounters — moments of shared experience that shape us, even as they pass,” says Pieter Jacobs, Head of UJ Arts & Culture.

Looking Ahead: A Brief Pause for Renewal

While the UJ Art Gallery undergoes renovations during 2026, the Gallery team will continue to present exhibitions and projects through partnerships and alternative venues, extending the Gallery’s reach beyond its walls. Artists and audiences will be welcomed back to a renewed space in 2027.

January

The season opens on 30–31 January with an extraordinary double bill by Gregory Maqoma Industries (GMI): Joséphine by Germaine Acogny, recently premiered in Paris, alongside the launch of Maqoma’s newest work, Bantu. Produced by Productions Sarfati with support from CHANEL and the Muse Art Foundation, the programme brings together African and diasporic brilliance in a powerful encounter between legacy and futurity.

February

February centres UJ students through registrations for the UJ Arts Academy, Arts Appreciation Programme, and UJ Choir auditions.

In partnership with the UJ Transformation Unit, UJ Arts & Culture presents Risky Behaviour, an industrial theatre initiative developed and directed by Jade Bowers that supports student wellbeing and prevention awareness.

The month also features Text Me When You Arrive, presented with POPArt, a satirical physical theatre work addressing gender-based violence, accountability, and bystander awareness.

The FADA Gallery launches the ARAK Fellowship, a curatorial and research initiative focused on exhibition practice, critical writing, and contemporary African art contexts.

The UJ Arts Centre also hosts Fire My Spirit, a site-specific installation by UJ Artist in Residence Bev Butkow, suspended in the foyer of the Keorapetse William Kgositsile Theatre.

March

A classical autumn music weekend features Some Enchanted Evening, with Federico Freschi (baritone), Christopher Duigan (musical director), and special guest Yolisa Ngwexana (soprano).

In recognition of Human Rights Month, the Arts Centre hosts a matinee performance of Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph’s Human Rights Oratorio, performed by the UJ Choir and members of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the seasoned Kutlwano Masote.

The global storytelling platform The Moth returns to UJ for an evening of live, personal storytelling at the Keorapetse William Kgositsile Theatre.

We welcome the ITROTRA ART X CONNECTION Dance Festival to the UJ Arts Centre. This partnership reflects our commitment to cultural collaboration and to strengthening the Pan African artistic landscape. Bringing together local and continental artists, the festival positions dance as a shared language through which stories are exchanged, heritage is honoured, and new futures are imagined. Through initiatives such as ITROTRA, we continue to build UJ as a platform for connection, creation, and Pan African excellence in the arts.

April

UJ Arts & Culture hosts Vuyani Dance Theatre for Vuyani’s Artistic Directors Season, marking the debut of Otto Andile Nhlapo as Artistic Director with the premiere of his new work, CODE DNA.

To mark Jazz Appreciation Month, the Arts Centre presents The Mseleku Project: Coming Home by Bokani Dyer – a tribute to jazz legend Bheki Mseleku, featuring UK flautist Gareth Lockrane and premiering previously unrecorded works in South Africa.

May

May highlights Peeling Shadows, the Naledi Award-winning theatre production coming to the UJ Bunting Theatre. Blending live illustration, shadow theatre, and physical performance, this powerful work unfolds a compelling narrative on justice, corruption, and redemption.

June

Chronogram, presented by the FADA Gallery from 4 to 24 June, is a Graduate School of Architecture (GSA) exhibition that examines architectural mapping as both a design tool and a visual language. Through a curated selection of works, the exhibition explores how spatial thinking is translated into representation, tracing the points where art and architecture meet to shape the way we read, imagine, and construct space.

Healing Voices comes to the UJ Arts Centre in June, bringing together Belgian-Ghanaian multi-instrumentalist ESINAM and KwaZulu-Natal–born guitarist and vocalist Sibusile Xaba in a cosmically poetic Afro-Roots-Electro collaboration with a clear nod to spiritual jazz. Through rhythm, groove, and vocal chanting, the duo translates story into trance-like patterns and melodies that move between past and future.

At the National Arts Festival in Makhanda, the MTN x UJ New Contemporaries Award Exhibition showcases a curated selection of contemporary South African work, led by the 2025 award winner, Amogelang Maledu, and featuring a range of established artists.

The UJ Art Gallery and the MTN SA Foundation are proud to continue this prestigious New Contemporaries Award, a platform designed to identify and support emerging curators. Through professional mentorship, public exhibition opportunities, and national visibility, the award enables new curatorial voices to launch their careers and contribute meaningfully to South Africa’s contemporary art landscape.

July

A major highlight is the world premiere of The Bacchae: An African Choral Ballet, presented by Joburg Ballet and UJ Arts & Culture. Directed by Jay Pather, choreographed by Mthuthuzeli November, composed by Neo Muyanga, and featuring the UJ Choir, the production premieres at the Joburg Theatre.

July also sees the return of UJ’s award-winning Theatre 101 interdisciplinary project, engaging over 300 FADA students in collaborative performance-making.

This bio-art exhibition, hosted by the FADA Gallery, forms part of a research-driven residency and public programme developed with Visual Identities in Art and Design (VIAD). Through a series of dialogues, presentations, and creative investigations, the programme invites audiences to engage with emerging bio-art practices and the questions they raise at the intersection of art, science, and contemporary culture.

August

Punchlines & Good Times, presented with POPArt, brings Johannesburg’s top comedians together for a night of stand-up comedy.

The UJ Choir presents Kaleidoscope, a large-scale choral celebration featuring youth choirs from across Gauteng, culminating in a performance by the internationally acclaimed UJ Choir.

September

The UJ Choir participates in KUESTA, a rotating inter-university choir festival hosted in 2026 by Stellenbosch University.

Presented by the FADA Gallery from 7 September to 23 October and funded by the University Research Committee (URC), this exhibition features creative output by staff, Artists in Residence, and Research Associates. Conceived as a creative research platform by FADA Gallery Curator Dr Farieda Nazier and Chair of the UJ Creative Output Task Team, Pieter Jacobs, the exhibition makes a meaningful and generative contribution to personal, social, and environmental discourse.

Moving into Dance returns to the UJ Arts Centre with Enable Through Dance, a performance showcasing work developed with youth living with disabilities from schools in and around Johannesburg. The programme focused on inclusion, confidence-building, and artistic expression, culminating in a professional theatre performance.

UJ Arts & Culture and Moving into Dance will also be launching a new dance platform aimed at aspiring young dancers in Johannesburg culminating in a showcase at the Keorapetse William Kgositsile Theatre.

October

The UJ Arts Centre hosts the Johannesburg leg of the Poetry Africa Festival, alongside a student excursion to the Durban programme in partnership with UKZN’s Centre for the Creative Arts.

The UJ Choir concludes its season with the annual Celebration Concert, bringing a jam-packed year to a close after an ambitious programme of performances, touring engagements, and major concert highlights.

UJ Arts & Culture also presents the UJ Arts Academy Showcase, highlighting student talent developed through the Academy’s training programmes.

November

The year culminates in the FADA Dean’s Concert and Silent Art Auction, led by Prof Federico Freschi. This flagship benefit event brings together musical excellence and philanthropic collecting to support the missing middle, academically deserving FADA students who do not qualify for traditional aid yet still cannot afford the full cost of study. Proceeds strengthen the FADA Bursary Fund, helping cover critical needs such as tuition, learning materials, transport, and accommodation, so talented students can remain enrolled, progress, and graduate. Every ticket purchased and every bid placed becomes a direct investment in the next generation of creative leaders.

For more details about our exciting programme, visit www.arts.uj.ac.za. Be sure to follow UJ Arts & Culture on social media for the latest updates, event announcements, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content.

Lakin Morgan-Baatjies
lakinmb@uj.ac.za
011 559 1315
University of Johannesburg Arts & Culture
https://arts.uj.ac.za/uj-ephemeral-the-2026-uj-arts-culture-programme-announced-connected-by-creativity/