One of the most exciting stands at the Turbine Art Fair, opening on Thursday evening, will be filled with works that come in quite a bit above the fair's R40000 cut-off, but they won't be for sale. Johannesburg Art Gallery's exhibition of international modern and contemporary work, mostly from its print cabinet, includes works by 20th-century giants such as Picasso, Dali, Lichtenstein, Lucien Freud and Damien Hirst.People tend to forget it, but JAG has the biggest collection of art in Africa, and it is respected worldwide. (More than 60 works are showing at the Scuderie del Castello Visconteo di Pavia in Milan, which has been extended until next month due to popular demand.)"JAG has a very, very fine print cabinet," says Professor Karel Nel, the gallery's head of acquisitions.Apart from the rare opportunity to see these works, which are seldom shown, this exhibition at the Turbine Art Fair is, says Nel, "a perfect opportunity for [new collectors] to see important prints from a broader context, and to understand their importance".Because of the fair's price ceiling, which attracts many new collectors, there tend to be a good number of prints and multiples available from the galleries exhibiting there.JAG's prints represent an important part of its collecting strategy, taking in major shifts in its historic emphasis from an early European focus with prints by the likes of Degas and Gauguin to 20th-century European and American works and contemporary South African prints.JAG will celebrate its centenary later this year. Along with a major exhibition in November and repairs to the building, an important focus of the event will be to re-engage with the art community.The Friends of the Johannesburg Art Gallery, which has been central to its survival in the face of minimal public funding throughout its existence, is being reinvigorated, with fashion designer and art collector Marianne Fassler as its new head.It's also important for the government and the public to understand the potential of JAG and other museums as tourist attractions, as part of the "regenerative process for the city itself" and in the shaping of national consciousness.Nel suggests that the function of museums has shifted beyond debates about whether or not they are colonial institutions."I think they have a new function within a global context," he says, adding that, while there are museums dedicated to African art in Europe and the US, there still isn't one in Africa.While JAG's collection has its origins in the tradition of European art 100 years ago, "JAG has the most important collection of Southern African traditional art from the last century in the world."JAG has repatriated important collections from Europe and the UK. "Some of it is shown, but a lot of it is not," says Nel. "It almost needs a museum in its own right."In the meantime, the Turbine Art Fair show is an excellent opportunity to get a glimpse of some of JAG's spectacular collection.Karel Nel will be in conversation with Nel Erasmus, former director of JAG, on Saturday from 11am to noon. They will discuss past and current acquisition strategies and key moments that have shaped the JAG collection. There will be shuttles between the Turbine Hall and JAG during the Turbine Art Fair...