UNDERBELLY
The Dark Side
a photographic exhibition
April 21 – May 21, 2026
Artists: Roger Ballen, Jodi Bieber, Francesco Mbele, Kabelo Mofokeng, Abdula Skink, Brett Rubin and Marko Zink
Opening: April 18, 5 – 9 PM
Open Window Institute
Johannesburg / 2194 South Africa
https://www.openwindow.co.za/owevent/underbelly-die-schattenseite-photography-exhibition/
The group exhibition “UNDERBELLY – The Dark Side” at the Open Window Institute in Johannesburg brings together international positions in contemporary photography and invites viewers to explore hidden layers of perception, identity, and memory.
The participating artists – including Marko Zink (Austria), Roger Ballen, Jodi Bieber, Francesco Mbele, Kabelo Mofokeng, Brett Rubin, and Abdula Skink – engage in a visual dialogue on personal and collective realities.
At the center is the “dark side” as a space of transformation, where suppressed truths become visible. The exhibition questions existing power structures and opens up new perspectives on the relationship between inner and outer worlds. Through multilayered visual languages, a field of tension emerges between intuition, physicality, and social norms.
Marko Zink will complement the exhibition with workshops and lectures at universities and institutes.
Supported by Austrian Cultural Forum / Cultural Forum Pretoria
MARKO ZINK
Artist in Residence / Johannesburg, April 2026
(Austrian Cultural Forum Pretoria, South Africa)
Portfolio Days: Open Window Institute – April 17, 2026
ON STAGED and Narrative Photography, Roger Ballen Center – April 21, 2026
