september I october
in review     

                                   11.07   
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PEOPLE I PLACES I NEWS I OPPORTUNITIES I UPDATES

TAG is a professional visual artists’ newsletter providing a global platform to the artists in residency at Greatmore Studios, Cape Town and also to art practitioners within the network of Triangle Art Trust. As an a compliment to a regularly updated web site, www.greatmoreart.org TAG provides artists with relevant updates about the studios, artists’ work and opportunities in the art arena both locally in Cape Town, on the continent and abroad.                                                                                                                      

editor’s notes …(read more)

in this issue our news

• Thupelo Cape Town makes final preparations for international workshop in December …(read more)

• Meet an artist TAG welcomes two new visiting artists contributing to the ethos at Greatmore Studios  …(read more)

• Two to watch TAG looks briefly at the practice of two emerging artists …(read more)

• Frozen Flowers Finnish artist Kristiina Korpela speaks about her intervention to the urban landscape at Greatmore Studios …(read more)

• Nadja Daenke exhibits at Joao Ferreira Gallery …(read more)

• Nurturing young talent TAG calls for proposals from emerging artists from South Africa and the larger continent to participate in mentoring workshops in 2008 …(read more)        

in this issue in the loop

• Conversations over freshly brewed Kenyan Coffee Janet Ranson shares her experiences participating in this years International Forest Workshop in Kenya …(read more) 

• Reflections on a workshop in Koekennap Emerging Cape Town artist, Igshaan Adams speaks to TAG about his experiences participating in a workshop …(read more) 

• CAPE’s Young Curator’s Programme calls for applications from emerging curators resident in South Africa …(read more)

this month on the web

editor’s notes

There’s a perception that conferences are a stiff gathering of minds that make use of a language few in attendance can actually access and relate to. The regional Triangle Arts Trust Southern African Networking Meeting hosted by Greatmore Studios this September was a far cry from being such a stale conversation.  Drawing delegates from as far as Mauritius, Kenya, the U.K., Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana, the three-day conference served as a strategic management analysis, assisting represented coordinators to make an honest assessment of their existing projects. Taking a thorough look at strides made over the last few years, against a backdrop of very real challenges endemic to the continent, project coordinators were able to articulate their position in an ever expanding network of artist run initiatives; artists were encouraged to identify future contributions their project spaces could make to the development of art making on the continent at large. Recently the directors of the Triangle Art Trust, Robert Loder and Alessio Antoniolli launched a comprehensive book that traces the development and spirit of work shopping across the world that has been birthed from this close network of artists.

“… the network functions as a family. The structure does not follow a hierarchy. There is a free exchange of information with no political power or influences- it is a very vulnerable entity built on relationships. The emphasis is placed on it being an information structure rather than a power structure…”

Robert Loder 2007 (these words have been edited for the purpose of this newsletter)

Artists’ project spaces are indeed very vulnerable entities and if mismanaged, can easily morph into destructive places that can destroy a culture of free art making. The question of effective handover to a new generation of artists and coordinators caused a slight stir in the beehive - how does any group of artists with twenty years of experience even begin to transfer the reigns of leadership to new very different hands who may not initially appreciate the toil and sweat that went into the development of these projects- there is a weight of responsibility that accompanies the history of such projects, can a pool of younger artists be trusted to carry this effectively- whilst encouraged to bring in new and fresh ideas, will the integrity of art making be maintained? The challenge of effective transfer of leadership is indeed a real and urgent one that has permeated all spheres of society from politics, economics and now the arts. From the deliberations that emerged during the conference, it was unanimously agreed, that given economic and social shifts in our democracies and constantly evolving tastes, greater accountability of project coordinators’ activities and a transfer of experience from one generation to the next are urgent priorities. Regardless of initial discomfort, these changes must occur to ensure the longevity of these project spaces. In this issue of TAG we are delighted to announce the inclusion of three new voices to the committee at Greatmore Studios. It is hoped that Janet Ranson, Kiatou Diallo and Gary Frier, all mature artists in their own right who have in some way over the years been affiliated with the studios, will make some fresh and meaningful contributions to the leadership and direction of our programmes. 

On a personal level, reflecting on the conversations that emerged at the conference, it was truly an honour to witness how art practitioners from across the continent with very different experiences converge to rethink the role artists’ project spaces should play out in our respective communities. Each project space has its own peculiar identity and texture; while making strides to embrace a ‘first-world’ approach to efficient and excellent management, project coordinators hold on relentlessly to a very distinct “African” identity.  I left with the knowledge that such a complex network of artists can be simply reduced to a great web of relationships nurtured and cultivated over two to three decades. In celebration of these relationships, Greatmore Studios hosted an intimate evening with art luminaries, new and old friends who had supported the network over the years. Fusing the pleasures of good conversation, spicy Cape Malay cuisine and the organic, indigenous sounds of the inguluub and tenor sax of the Khoi Khonnexions- it was a blissful evening! For further information on the Triangle Art Trust* please visit www.trianglearts.org.

Cape Town has indeed become the locus of meeting in the last few months- November is no exception. From 8- 10 November 2007 artists, project coordinators, academics, quasi-academics and cultural engineers from across the continent will converge at Michaelis School of Fine Art for a three day conference that marks a collaboration between Visual Artists Network of South Africa (VANSA) ,http://www.vansa.co.za/, and International Art Critics Association (AICA), http://www.aica-int.org/, under the banner of Structuring Africa (s) Cultural Policies and their differences and similarities or how to deal with needs and desires. It promises to be an interesting line of talks and subsequent debate .Let’s hope it keeps relevant to the urgent needs of a very real African continent. For more information of this please contact Julienne Lemb on +27(0)214254701.

In this offering of TAG, we find value in dialogue among artists representing a diversity of cultures and ethnicities. From 1-15 December 2007, Thupelo Cape Town will host an  international art workshop in Woodstock. Receiving an unprecedented number of applications it has truly been a delight to see a global interest of artists wanting to engage with other artists, while working on expanding the boundaries of their own practice.

So from my desk to yours, may the last two months of the year see us carve time in often-overscheduled lives to strengthen ties with existing friends within our artistic circles. All networks are inevitably plagued by challenges, tension and insecurities at varying times-it is for us persevere and commit to see them mature into something that has longevity and can make meaningful contributions beyond the parties involved.

Tambudzai La Verne Sibanda, Editor

We always welcome your contributions to the content of this newsletter. Please e-mail us your comments at tagnews@gmail.com

p.s. For those of you anticipating an exclusive interview with reputed artist Helen Sebidi in this issue of TAG please note that we will release extracts of this and other  interviews in a published book celebrating artists association with Thupelo Workshops in 2008.

*The trust initiates and facilitates an international network of artist’s workshops, residencies and studio building, which enable artist to work together in order to exchange of ideas and practice.

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our news

Thupelo Cape Town makes final preparations for international workshop in December

With applications for this year’s Thupelo International Workshop closed, a team of artists in October were given the seemingly impossible task of selecting the participants. Some consensus was made however- the two- week intense workshop scheduled to take place from 1- 15 December 2007, will draw talent from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Congo (DRC), Latvia, Kenya, Namibia , India, Sweden, America as well as artists from Cape Town and Johannesburg. The Thupelo International workshop will follow a loosely choreographed schedule, aimed at drawing artists young and old to concentrate on their art practice while exchanging ideas and techniques amongst each other. This stimulating workshop hopes to provide a comfortable space for artists to discuss topical issues relating to their art practice. Originally poised as an art and craft workshop, aimed to challenge the boundaries between applied art and fine art, due to a dearth of applications from crafters, the workshop will solely follow the tradition model of Thupelo which is a sotho word meaning “to teach”  . It is believed that the poor response by crafters is due an unfortunately  coinciding of this workshop  with a peak season of production-perhaps a workshop of this nature is worth exploring in the quieter winter months of the year?  The logistics behind organising a Thupelo Workshop are complicated and November will see our administrator and financial adviser engaging in a nightmarish juggle between securing accommodation, organising catering for the the duration of the workshop as well as assisting artists where needed with relevant flight bookings- there is always an awkward balance trying to reconcile, Nigerian shillings, American dollars and Indian rupees to make everyone happy. Artists have been asked to cover the full travel costs to and from Cape Town.   

The close proximity artists will have with each other working in a shared space at Ruth Prowse School of Art ( http://www.ruthprowse.co.za/ )  will definitely make for rigorous discussion and deep engagement with one’s own work. Thupelo has been an informal feature of the art scene for the past 20 years and has seen some 300 artists participate- many of whom today have developed successful professional careers. On 8 December 2007 members of the local community with interests in art making will be invited to interact with participants and share their own skills, whilst taking the time to learn from the work that has developed at the workshop. The workshop will culminate in an open day exhibition on 14 December 2007 with members of the public encouraged. For more information about this and past workshops please visit www.greatmoreart.org  or call 021 4479699.

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Meet an artist 

leratomotau                           

 conceptual artist & Textile sculptor I Soweto, Gauteng

Trained at the Johannesburg Art Foundation, Lerato Motau is a conceptual artist and painter. Her medium ranges from manipulating various textiles to make textured sculptures, to rendering the lives of township women with paint on canvas. Motau’s most recent body of work involves a collection of skirts she entitles her ‘friendship skirts’. Each skirt is ‘performative’ and reflects a particular personality of a specific friend who has shaped the artist’s life. The materials and aesthetic of each skirt has been carefully thought out and executed. The materiality of her pieces, while on one hand, speak of the complexity and sophistication of friendships past and present,  are also very light-hearted, playful and fun. During her residency at Greatmore Studios, Motau has explored various media to reflect her emotions and thoughts around her current pregnancy.

“The project began when a close friend passed away and I made a skirt in her memory. I then decided to make skirts for some of my other friends celebrating who they are now.”

 mercymoyo                                                                                 

painter I Harare, Zimbabwe

“Do not look at me for I am dark,

Because the light scourged me….”

Song of Solomon 1: 5- 6

“My work reflects the beauty and strength of the African woman as I see her through the lens of my own experiences. The colour of her skin, her numerous reaction towards situations-sad or happy …sometimes I incorporate other media onto the canvas to give my work a texture can be felt, by those who can not see. Working with bright colours I like to draw passers-by into the conversations between these women.”

Obsessed by the unique communication both verbal and silent that African women in her experience share, Moyo’s most recent body of work colourfully and energetically captures women engaging in gossip, while others silently braid their friends’ hair. The young artist’s oeuvre shows close resemblance to the work of Zimbabwean artist Richard Witikani and Mozambican artist Luis Meque (1966-98) whose simple but rough brush strokes works reflect the urban reality of  life in Harare.

Mercy Moyo and Lerato Motau are both currently enrolled in our Visiting Artists Programme (VAP) and are making final preparations to exhibit their most recent colourful work in a two man exhibition entitled In My life: Muhupenyu Hwangu. Bophelo Bame at Jeannette Unite Studio Gallery situated at 151 Buitenkant Street,. Cape Town, South Africa. The exhibition which will run from 19 November -21 November 2007 will open on Monday 19^th November 2007 at 6pm. For more information please contact André Barnard on 021 4479 9699 or visit our website www.greatmoreart.org

Greatmore Studios also plays host to two mature Cape Town based artists Jeannette Unite an artist who work spans various media, from experiments manipulating glass, to energetic pastel drawings and abstract impressions on canvas. For a closer look at this artist’s work please visit www.unite.co.za.  

Nkoali Nawa  (http://www.greatmoreart.org/resident_artists_cvs/nkoali_nawa.htm) an artist whose has developed a signature brand rendering portraits and figures  in charcoal and pastel also lands at the studios this month. Both artists have in the past taken up residency at the Bag Factory in Johannesburg and participated in international Thupelo workshops.

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Two watch to watch 

Comparatively young artists to the Greatmore Art scene, this month TAG welcomes Swazi artist and sculptor Nandipha Mntambo and Cape Town based painter come curator Loyiso Qanya.

Nandipha Mntambo 

Who is she? Swaziland born sculptor

Why we like her? Despite her age, Mntambo’s evocative oeuvre displays great maturity, revealing the workings of a sophisticated mind, that is well informed of a conflicted  African history. Upon completing her Master’s Degree in Fine Art with distinctions from Michaelis School of Art, Mntambo recently had a debut solo exhibition Ingabisa at Michael Stevenson gallery.

Her signature: Using cow hides, Mntambo makes moulds of the female torso to build her sculptures.

Recents strides made in her art practice: Recently Mntambo exhibited in Barcelona at the Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona in “ Apartheid : the South African Mirror.

To view the artists most recent work please visit http://www.greatmoreart.org/resident_artists_cvs/nandipha_mntambo.htm

Loyiso Qanya

Who is he? Cape Town based painter and emerging curator

Why we like him: he participated in the Thupelo International Workshop in 2005 .Qanya  took up a short residency at the studios in 2006 that culminated in his participatiion in a group exhibition comprising of international artists entitled ”Chutney Jam”.

Recent strides made in his art practice: As a trainee curatorQanya recently curated an exhibition entitled “Imbacu: Art from the Inside/Outside”  at the Iziko South African National Gallery (SANG). Drawing on artists such as Colin Richards, Jane Alexander, Dumile Feni and Ernest Cole, the exhibition looked at how artists were directly and indirectly affected by notions of exile both in and outside of South Africa.  The point of departure of this exhibition is the 30^th anniversary of Steve Biko’s death.

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Frozen Flowers 

This November Greatmore Studios welcomes Finnish landscape and installation artist, Kristiina Korpela, who will make several small interventions to the landscape at the studios. Working full days in the courtyard, Korpela talks to TAG about the conceptualisation of her project.

TAG:Tell us a little about the dynamics of your art practice

Kristiina Korpela: I have made many environmental works and installations in strange places in Finland, Germany and Austria. I mostly use waste, recycled material and natural objects that I collect myself.

TAG: Kristiina you are familiar with Cape Town and the studios from a past visit. What brings you back?

K.K. This time I came to Cape Town with my old herbarium, with Finnish plants that I have collected and preserved as a schoolchild some decades ago. It is my hope to find links between the impressive Fynbos (Capetonian flora) and the nature of my own northern fatherland. In essence, I arrive at the studios as a ‘gardener’ to cultivate an environmental artwork here. My working in Cape Town is part of the Kuopio- Cape Town exchange project the Oceans/Deserts Between that a fellow Finnish artist, Anu Tuomisaari and I have initiated. 

TAG: Your intervention has resonance with Europeans who came in the imperialist era, introducing foreign plants in the landscape. Is your work not problematic in that sense? What is different about your intervention?

K.K. My intension is not to take the land from you…perhaps only appropriate it for my own interests. I want to bring visual snow to Cape Town by painting several dry plants white.White for me represents the white cold landscape from where I come...I am not making any reference to white people per se, but difference-it is all about about nature.

TAG: As a landscape artist, what are you concerns and emotional attachment to the environment?

K.K. I am concerned with our shared nature, which gives us sunshine, wind, rain and also snow. I am worried about the climate warming in some places and becoming colder in other places-there are so many climatic changes across the globe today. Plants and flowers symbolise many things –everyone has his/her own relationships and meaning attached to them.

TAG: What kind of interaction and feedback are you expecting from the artists resident at the studios?

K.K. I am appealing to people in and around Greatmore Studios to participate in my work by bringing me plants and flowers, dry if possible with which I can work with. I am very keen for the surrounding environment, its climate and its people to be part of my process. Using some documentary photographs, I hope to form an installation in the courtyard. Stickers  capturing the snow-laden landscape in Finland that I produced prior to my arrival in Cape Town also form part of my work. My project in Cape Town primarily looks to question the equality that lies between two very different cultures,people and landscapes.

“…when you have summer, we have winter. But as people we are equal?” What if everything were white? 

The project will also see Korpela working alongside Finnish printmaker Anu Tuomisaari to initiate an artistic exchange between 60 children drawn from a local school in Cape Town and 60 children in Finland .The artists have hopes to exhibit in Cape Town the work of Finnish children they had conducted workshops with earlier on in the year. A similar workshop with children from Cape Town encouraging them to draw images that reflect their lived experiences will also be facilitated-emergent work will be exhibited in Finland in 2008.  As a practising printmaker, Tuomisaari hopes to facilitate a printmaking workshop in Cape Town with local printmakers that will see South African talent exhibited in Finland also some time next year. To request more information about the Kuopio –exchange project please email  anu.tuomisaari@kuopio.fi  or Kristiina.Korpela@iki.fi

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Nadja Daenke exhibits at Joao Ferreira Gallery

Exhibiting at Joao Ferreira Gallery until 30 November 2007, resident artist, Nadja Daenke’s latest solo exhibition “Between Yes and No”  considers the anguish, awe and desire of the human body. In a series of mixed-media paintings Daehnke reflects on the liminal state between the desirable and abject in relation to the interdependent strands of sexuality, illness and mortality.

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Nurturing young talent 

With hopes to raise the level of art making amongst a pool of young artists, by encouraging them to work alongside a team of mature and seasoned artists, Greatmore Studios will host a mentoring workshop in April 2008. Attempting to embrace the Thupelo model of workshopping “ to teach by example’, this year following two similar workshops held in April 2007 and August 2007, debate arose around the effectiveness of these intense one month long workshops. Drawing in practitioners to engage the artists on several topics ranging from “The protocol to adopt when approaching galleries” to elementary financial literary imperative to artists and basic computer skills, it became instructive to assess whether in fact these mini seminars had become distractions to the art making process-were the workshops in effect too structured? Would participants benefit more if they were less structured and contrived? The challenge now remains how does one encourage participants of such workshops to exchange ideas and work beyond their known art practice in such a short time, while maintaining the integrity of artistic freedom and self-accountability. With this premise, Greatmore Studios would like to invite young artists from South Africa and the larger continent to submit proposals for their involvement in this workshop. Deadline for these applications is January 2008.

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in the loop

Conversations over freshly brewed Kenyan Coffee

South African artist and Greatmore Studios committee member Janet Ranson has had a long history participating in Thupelo workshops. This October saw her take two weeks to work in the Ngong Forest Sanctuary in Kenya at this years International Forest workshop. In an interactive slide show presentation at the studios Ranson spoke of her colourful experience working with natural materials, tumeric, branches and leaves to create a perishable art work in the forest landscape. Through an impressive display of photographs, Ranson narrated a two week journey working along side artists from various countries on the continent namely Lebanon, the UK, Zambia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya During the workshop Ranson worked on constructing a large mammoth like sculpture using forest mud and leaves . The second of its kind, the International Forest workshop sought to encourage visual artists to create works of art using naturally found objects collected on the site. The workshop was also poised inspire a Kenyan public to "re-look" at the issue of deforestation and loss of wilderness sites in the country, igniting a desire to conserve natural flora. A pool of local and international visual artists were challenged to  move beyond their usual creative practice by using nature as a stimulus to work in completely new and different ways.   

 Reflections on a workshop in Koekennap

Igshaan Adams a young artist from Bonteheuwel who participated in this years 2^nd Mentoring workshop in August 2007 was privileged to spend a week working at an art workshop in Kokennap this September. TAG managed to catch up with the young talent and mine his views on this very special rural workshop organised the Westland Art Society in association with the Department of Cultural affairs in the Matzikama District. The workshop aimed to converge full-time artists from diverse backgrounds, privileged and historically disadvantaged artists, in a mutually supportive environment that encourages freedom to experiment through sharing of ideas, techniques and disciplines.

“My experience at the Koekennap Regional Art Workshop started with not knowing what to expect and feeling uncertain of my decision to go. I ended up emerging from the workshop will deep feelings of sadness when I had to leave…Being so far removed from everything and everyone I was familiar with scared me at first but with time, one could not help enjoy the experience of the beautiful vast openness of the Platteland dotted with windmills, tractors and yellow coloured fields. Throughout the workshop everyone was very friendly and productive. People came from all different backgrounds and brought to the workshop different levels of experience ranging from one year to twenty years of experience .The participating artists were also of varying ages. Concentrating on my art did not feel like work for me; I was encouraged to approach my work with a childlike freedom. I experimented with unfamiliar materials and processes. The highlight of the week was a brief visit to Ratelgat a national heritage site that preserves the Nama culure on Heritage day. Experiencing the culture with its characteristic straw huts, rock painting sand traditional dancing and music and being in the very place where my own ancestors had performed heir rituals was a very spiritual experince for me. The week ended with an exhibition of our work at the Ludsville Wine Estate in Vredenal. It was a perfect beautiful setting to the end of a beautiful experience that will stay with me for a long time.”

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CAPE’s Young Curator’s Programme

In response to a growing skills gap in curatorial practice in the country, Cape Africa Platform invites emerging and aspiring curators resident in South Africa to apply for a focused 18 month curator’s programme aimed at developing skills in thoughtful presentation and criticism of contemporary cultural production. The successful candidates will receive practical experience in all aspects of curating and mounting exhibitions. In addition to completing internships overseas and on the continent with identified partner art institutions, that will encourage exchange between experienced curators, scholars and critics, the participants will also be encouraged to attend seminars in art history, critical theory and discourse. The intense programme that will commence on 15 January 2008, looks to nurture a new generation of curators who will make meaningful contributions to the CAPE 09 exhibition. Individuals interested in the programme should submit an updated CV, a motivational letter, a written paper (500 words max) describing a personal outlook of contemporary African artistic production, and proof of South Africa residency and three contactable referees to gabi@capeafrica.org . Postal applications can be addressed to Young Curator’s Programme, Cape Africa Platform, PO Box 15806 , Vlaeberg 8018. The deadline for submissions is 9 November 2007. Successful applicants will be notified in December 2007.

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on the web this month

 keep connected with www.greatmoreart.org

To find out more about our continuous Visiting Artists’ Programme for mid-career artists and Mentoring Workshops for emerging artists, please visit us at http://www.greatmoreart.org/ 

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TAG newsletter is kindly sponsored by:

The Ford Foundation (FF)

The National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF)

HIVOS

National Arts Council (NAC)

Pro Helvetia, Arts Council of Switzerland
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)