Retrospective of graphic design in SA

The exhibition will look at the influences on the visual language of the magazine and its stance on topical issues, as well as its influence on the graphics design industry in SA.

Ijusi has been a constant reminder of the need to develop a visual culture that addresses our own realities. Collected and viewed together, the last 23 issues of Ijusi magazine have become a visual record of SA society's transformation – it's a look at ourselves and reminds us that design can have a conscience too.

“HOWZIT. Here's a list of some of South Africa's top designers: Sipho X, the street photographer; Mavis Y, owner of a beauty salon; Moses Z, trading store owner. Ah, and you thought we were going to mention some goatee-bearded, pony-tailed, cocaine-sniffing gurus from Gauteng or that other metropolis with the Continental-infiltrated sea. Not this time.”

Appearing in the first issue of Ijusi in 1995, this informal and subversive editorial set the tone to what has now become a legendary record of South African graphics design. Issues over the years have ranged from focusing on death, pornography, religion, race to typography.