“Ubuntu - I Am Because We Are”.

This study investigates the societal role of Contemporary art and the potential of nurturing Social Practices in South Africa to address the complexity of contemporary art and people’s capabilities of understanding. Social Practices' potential role within the South African context is determined by the notion of Ubuntu, a relational philosophy essential to the transition to democracy in 1994 to reform a multicultural society. The research adopts a qualitative methodology, comprehending an exploratory phase of literature review and informal conversations, followed by an empirical phase of collecting data through semi- structured interviews with South African creative practitioners. The results highlight that despite the positive changes, South Africa is plagued by high inequity across the country, especially between urbanized and unurbanized spaces; geographical position generates hierarchies that play a significant role. Within this extremely diverse social texture, there are communities that are still fighting to legitimise their cultures. Potentially, contemporary art plays a significant role as it is considered a tool for uplifting marginalised communities. However, nowadays, the contemporary art world mirrors the societal issues of inequity, prioritising commercial activities whose audience is limited to an elitist niche of people. It raises the need for a new way of encountering contemporary art, shifting the centre from the urbanized space to the rural areas and townships, going through and towards marginalized communities. The study identified that the main challenge is financial because the amount available and the number of requests are significantly unbalanced. In addition, there are obstacles concerning geographical position, cultural diversity, resource mobilisation and evaluation process. Eventually, the research emphasizes that the condition for the transformative potential of Social Practices is avoiding a top-down perspective and adopting a mutual learning approach, facilitating initiatives that resonate with the community entered and are based on mutual learning rather than teaching.