Diane de Beer found out more
Three exciting art events are happening in Gauteng from this week.
THE annual FNB Joburg Art Fair is on at Joburg’s Sandton Convention Centre this weekend, from Friday to Sunday. As always for art lovers, there’s huge excitement.
The fair will feature 80 exhibitions within six categories including Contemporary and Modern Art, Special Projects, Gallery Solo Projects, Limited Editions and Art Platforms. The selected galleries and organisations hail from 17 countries across Africa, Europe and the US.
Faye Mfikwe, FNB Chief Marketing Officer, says: “The FNB Joburg Art Fair continues to play a significant role in discovering the value that artists bring to society and has earned a reputation as the ideal place for those interested in African contemporary art.”
This fair also heralds the new executive directorship of Mandla Sibeko: “I wish us to continue to lead not only South African audiences, but the world’s appreciation of cutting-edge African art”.
Fair curator, Lucy MacGarry, chose to focus this year on East Africa as a dynamic hub of art-making on the continent. The Special Projects programme manifests as an invitational section that spotlights the artistic landscape of this region, which means a selection of leading artists and art spaces from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda to Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan.
As the highlight, 2016 Featured Artist Wangechi Mutu (Kenya/US) will exhibit a film and sculptural installation presented by Keyes Art Mile. The Kenyan-born artist spent the last two decades living and working in New York, while also establishing a studio in Nairobi. The move positions her among a growing list of renowned artists injecting a new, vibrant energy into the East African art scene.
Further solo presentations by Aida Muluneh (Ethiopia), Jim Chuchu (Kenya) and The Nest Collective (Kenya) will feature alongside site-specific works by Serge Alain Nitegeka (Burundi) and Sanaa Gateja (Uganda).
MacGarry explains: “East Africa is a vast geographical area with varied and often disparate social and creative perspectives and sensibilities. This year’s curatorial intervention will give audiences a first step towards engaging in artistic developments and narratives arising from that region. Presenting both emerging and worldacclaimed artists, galleries and non-profit organisations, our intention is to provide a catalyst for ongoing research, transnational dialogue and future projects of significance. ”
The fair also hosts an annual series of non-profit projects and events to create a holistic view of creative practice in Africa. These include the FNB Art Prize that awards an artist a cash prize and the opportunity to create a new project for the fair, a programme of talks – lectures, discussions and interviews – and the FNB Private Wealth and FNB Private Clients Lounge that features the work of a featured designer from the continent.
Over the years, the FNB Art Prize has not only celebrated the work of shining South African artists, but has also been awarded to groundbreaking artists from the African continent. This has allowed for a creative dialogue within the growing contemporary African art markets. This year the prize goes to Nolan Oswald Dennis.
All galleries participating are given the opportunity to nominate one of their artists for consideration by the jury who consisted of Zimbabwean curator and director of the Zimbabwean National Gallery in Harare, Raphael Chikukwa, Art Fair curator, MacGarry, and Angolan architect and curator, Paula Nascimento.
Another highlight this year is the first series of TEDxJohannesburgSalon Talks themed on the contemporary visual arts of Africa. The programme, presented by Ogogiii magazine – the bi-quarterly magazine known for cutting- edge perspectives on African design, culture, business and global affairs – will include a full day of talks presented by dynamic artists, curators and thinkers at the Theatre on the Square at Nelson Mandela Square I (across from the Convention Centre).
The FNB Joburg Art Fair: Sandton Convention Centre, Exhibition Hall 1,161 Maude St, Sandton. Fri to Sun. Fri: noon8pm, Sat: 10am-6pm, Sun: 10am-5pm.