The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum is currently hosting the exhibition Sum Nil by Gqeberha-based artist Taryn Jade in contribution to her Master’s in Visual Art at Nelson Mandela University.
The exhibition is taking place in the Arts Hall of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum. The Arts Hall has been closed since July 2025 due to electrical issues. In addition to the electrical damage, the basement of this 100-year-old building has experienced water damage due to flooding during heavy rains.
The exhibition is open to the public weekdays from 9:00 – 16:00 and Saturday’s from 9:30 – 12:30.
The exhibition is on show until 18 May 2026 and selected works are for sale.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Sum Nil is an exhibition that reflects on neglected public infrastructure and shared civic responsibility in Gqeberha.
Bringing together Taryn Jade work with pieces by other local artists and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipal Art Museum collection, the exhibition explores themes of decay, care, and belonging.
Using industrial materials, wool, ceramics, sound, stop-motion, and debris collected from the city’s streets, she situates the exhibition in Gqeberha’s history and present realities.
Installed in the museum’s Art Hall and basement, Sum Nil invites visitors to consider what it means to rebuild and care for a shared future.
This work is based on the research supported by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant Number SARCI150327116229) and the Nelson Mandela University Postgraduate Research Scholarship. Opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this work are those of the author(s) alone and the NRF and the PGRS accept no liability whatsoever in this regard.
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