Johannesburg: A City Between

Exhibition hosted by LSE Cities

One hundred and thirty years after its original foundation, Johannesburg is a city caught between the promise of the future and the failure of the past. Showcasing photographs alongside literary renderings of the city, this exhibition explores in material and imaginative terms what means to be between.

The photographs on display were captured by Jodi Bieber, an award-winning South African photographer, during the country’s historic transition from apartheid to democracy during the 1990s. They reveal spaces and people struggling to survive amidst the city that was and the city yet to come. Pairing these images with words from some of the city’s most incisive biographers, this exhibition prompts to us think about how Johannesburg has always been in one way or another a twilight space, a city forever caught between its own irreconcilable extremes.

The exhibition of photography and words has been arranged by Ed Charlton, Mellon Fellow in Cities and the Humanities, in collaboration with Jodi Bieber. The photographs included in this exhibition come from her collection Between Dogs and Wolves: Growing up with South Africa  (1996).

This exhibition is open to all, no ticket required. Visitors are welcome during weekdays (Monday – Friday) between 10am and 8pm (excluding bank holidays, when the school is closed, at Christmas and Easter, or unless otherwise stated on the web listing).