Jay Pather (Durban, 1959) is a curator, choreographer and academic living and working in Cape Town. He directs the Institute of Creative Arts at the University of Cape Town, and is curator of the public art festival Infecting the City, and the ICA Live Art Festival, Afrovibes in the Netherlands, the Biennial of Body, Image and Movement in Madrid, among other projects. He has recently published a book, Transgressions, Live Art in South Africa together with Catherine Boulle. He was also a member of the jury for the recent International Prize for Public Art, and named a Fellow of the University of London, as well as a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of Arts and Letters) by the French government.
His residency was in reference to Antoni Hervàs’ exhibition “The Awakening,” a site-specific installation at The Green Parrot. Pather mentored Hervàs, as well as attending other studio visits with artist residents at production center La Escocesa (Carolina Campos, Joana Capella Buendia, and Denis Dizon), other artists such as Claudia Pagès Rabal, Agnes Essonti, Daniel Gasol at Chiquita Room, Aimar Pérez Galí at Mercat de les Flors, and a special conversation with Tania Safura Adam at Radio Africa.
Moreover, he held a public presentation at La Cuina, MACBA, where he discussed the works of contemporary live artists from South Africa as well as from Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Zimbabwe and Cameroon.
His residency was possible with the support of PICE Program-Visitors, from AC/E Acción Cultural Española.
