Current Exhibition
August 15-January 10 2026 · A42 House, Johannesburg
Free for members · R 50 for non-members
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Free for members
Includes free A42 membership for non-members
"Inherited Futures" — A42 House, Johannesburg · August 15-January 10 2026
How do our relationships with others, seen and unseen, shape our collective futures? Explore this question alongside the work of 11 local artists at Inherited Futures, a new participative exhibition at A42 House .
Grounded is A42 House’s inaugural, co-created exhibition, inviting young people in Johannesburg to define, explore, and reclaim what belonging means in a place shaped by displacement, segregation, and layered histories. Visitors move through a carefully choreographed narrative journey that draws on methods of indigenous healing, art and narrative therapy, institutional psychotherapy, and restorative justice and reconciliation. Inside, sound, objects, artworks, and participatory installations foreground listening as the first act of grounding—centering voices from the community speaking about what makes them feel grounded and at home. At the heart of the exhibition is “We Are Grounded”, a communal dining table of collected memories contributed by young people, foregrounded by a soundscape capturing their diverse voices. Everyday items—mugs, stools, bags, photographs, plants, clothing, phones—become vessels of memory, migration, faith, loss, resilience, and love. Together, they form a composite home that reflects shared experiences across difference. Surrounding this are interactive “Common Ground” stations that invite visitors to reflect on ancestry, belonging, accountability, healing, and reconciliation. These participatory acts—writing, drawing, listening, ritual gestures—position visitors not as passive viewers, but as active participants in processes of repair. Individual rooms within the house host creative-led installations that explore themes such as hybrid identity, domestic labour, faith, family lineages, gender, spirituality, and futurity. These include immersive works that reframe the home as a site of resistance, tenderness, creativity, and transformation—where personal histories intersect with broader social and political realities. The exhibition affirms a simple but radical message: you belong here—and you always have.
We asked our community to contribute objects and stories that answer the question — "what makes you grounded?". Here is a selection of your stories.
The Grounded exhibition includes Common Ground, a 'therapy' game that prompts participants to reflect on themes of Inheritance, Healing, Accountability, Home, and Being Grounded. Here are some responses to the prompt for accountability. We asked you to WRITE a letter to someone you may have made feel unwelcome. Acknowledge how you may have harmed them and reflect on how you could try to repair the harm?
Book a guided tour of A42 House's current exhibition. Non-members receive a complimentary A42 membership with their ticket.
