South Africa Women’s Day is celebrated as a national holiday every year on August 9 in tribute to Women in South Africa. 1XRUN is pleased to present a group campaign showcasing 3 emerging contemporary women artists from South Africa in an effort to highlight contemporary female artists.

‘Women’s Day’ (August 9) is celebrated on this day to remember the +20,000 women who protested against apartheid legislation of ‘pass laws’ in 1953. During that time, all non-white citizens were required to carry pass books which detailed their personal information and other ‘permission’ documents which either permitted them into an area or denied them access. It was legislation that the apartheid government used to tighten the apartheid government's control over the movement of Women of color in urban areas.

To this day, Women’s Month is celebrated and remembered in South Africa through creative, artistic, and cultural spaces, as well as in the media. The month of August highlights the careers of female multi-disciplinarian artists, gender-based discussions, and calls for political and social reform. The month of August is attributed to the development of contemporary female artists and 1XRUN is pleased to present this feature.

"It is a pleasure to present three emerging female artists who are creating illustrative, painterly, and dreamlike works to 1xRun audience. Juliet Mihloti, Marina Simela, and Oh Two One are three newly featured consistent Women Contemporaries who tap into their subconscious and deliver to their creative process in a multitude of series pertaining to their own experiences, surroundings, and dreamlike narratives through illustrative, painterly, and explorative channels. It is important that we focus on female narratives in South Africa because so often statistics are male-dominant in African art-related spaces and institutions - we would like to further engage and encourage this development, especially in Contemporary, urban and illustrative practices."

-Statement from curator Megan Kathleen Theunissen