Dispersed artists unite at exhibition
White River Gallery launched the Diaspora exhibition this past weekend, bringing together the works of dispersed artists of the Lowveld.
There are 116 artworks on show by 33 artists in various mediums, sizes and price ranges.
Curator Karin Daymond will conduct a curator’s walkabout on December 5 at 11:00.
“There is a delicate balance to nurturing an exhibition such as Diaspora. The sweet spot is when artists begin to investigate what they may not have considered before. When it comes to places that have shaped us, that are familiar on a primal level, there may be things that we did not even know we knew about ourselves and about a place,” Daymond says.
She goes on to say that this lens is seldom turned on the Mpumalanga region and its people.
“Posing the question ‘How has Mpumalanga shaped your visual vocabulary?’ has yielded a collection of work that has a distinctive raw energy. There are numerous references to natural elements, to wildness and to animals and plants. There is a dominant sense of being close to the earth. And to my delight, many participating artists have expressed that as a result of this process, they are experiencing an extended awareness of their present surroundings.”
The proceedings were kicked off with a few words from Dana MacFarlane, owner of White River Gallery, Daymond and artist Olivia McMurray.
“My hope is that we all become aware that the simple building blocks are worthy of attention and that these can have a profound effect on the filters that artists (and indeed all of us) apply to our worlds,” concluded Daymond.
The exhibition will be on until January 19.