Artist plans to brush up on Bay’s rich heritage

ARTISTS from across the country are being invited to Nelson Mandela Bay to share secrets they have about the city, its heritage and maybe its lesser known dark side.

Port Elizabeth artist Anthony Harris’s brainchild, the Wish You Were Here project, with help from the Mandela Bay Development Agency and the city’s art community, aims to promote the Bay and its rich culture.

“We want something more than your everyday promotional material – the stuff we have become used to, which you see everywhere and forget as soon as you pass it.

“We want to expose the public to a different side of the Bay. Things that will make people take notice,” Harris said.

Paintings, sculptures and pictures, in fact all art forms, even videos and literature, are welcome as long as the artists are South African.

There will be prizes for some of the best works, as well as the opportunity for a selection of pieces to be displayed on the national stage.

After some exhibitions at a number of Port Elizabeth galleries some of the pieces will be displayed at the Boardwalk and the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, and eventually travel to next year’s National Arts Festival in Grahamstown and even the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees.

With the broad range of art forms, and the interest in “unconventional” themes, Harris believes they could see some rather shocking pieces.

Working with what Harris calls the Bay’s “Creative Collective” – a number of art galleries in the city – they expect more than 500 works.

From these pieces about 100 will be chosen in September for further exhibitions, and form part of heritage and tourism month celebrations.

Afterwards a selection will be chosen for national exhibitions.

“We want to expose the rest of the country to our rich culture and heritage. We are proud of our understated art and artists, and want to offer them this opportunity to grow,” Harris said.