The essence of being South African, with all its issues, angst, triumphs and glorious celebrations has been distilled into a unique exhibition which opened at Spier in Stellenbosch on 12 December.

“Maybe the greatest yearning of South Africans is to find a canvas on which to express themselves,” commented Premier of the Western Cape, Ebrahim Rasool, opening the Spier Contemporary 2007 exhibition.

“It is through exhibitions like this that we become a country that is grappling with its soul, rather than a country of one dimensional theme parks”, he said.

And the 120 artworks chosen from the over 2137 works submitted, are certainly giving us insights into who we are and what we are in ways that are sometimes soothing, sometimes shocking and always insightful.

The artworks cover an astonishing range of media, from the static solidity of sculpture to the fluid motions of performance, from the most fragile of installations to videos that demand to be heard. The diversity of the works is perhaps a reflection of the open nature of the competition. There was no theme prescribed, allowing the artists complete freedom of expression. The only requirement was that the artists should be permanently residing in South Africa.

“Art plays a significant role in the transformation of our country” commented Yvonne Johnston, CEO of the International Marketing Council. “Exhibitions like this break down barriers and create linkages between us in the unique mix that is South Africa”.

Choosing the 92 finalists was no easy task for the six-strong selection team, Virginia MacKenny, an award-winning artist and senior lecturer at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town; Thembinkosi Goniwe, an art lecturer at the Division of Visual Arts at the Wits School of Arts and the Spier Contemporary team of Clive van den Berg (Curator of the exhibition), Jay Pather (Co-curator), Churchill Madikida (Outreach Officer) and Kadiatou Diallo (Project Manager).
The team travelled to centres around the country, including Johannesburg, East London, Port Elizabeth, Umtata, Durban, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Giyani, Potchefstroom and Barberton for the unenviable task of selecting the works.

Six award winners were selected by a diverse team of judges which included: N’gone Fall, a Senegalese art curator, art publisher and consultant in cultural policies; Predrag Pajdic, a Yugoslavian London-based interdisciplinary artist, art historian and curator, and Clive Kellner, a South African artist, curator, critic and Director of the Johannesburg Art Gallery.

Interestingly, and in spite of the high quality of work submitted, no paintings, drawings or sculpture were selected by the judges for awards, or the three works which received honourable mention. Of the six awards, one was a photograph, two were video pieces and three were performance pieces.

Spier Contemporary 2007 curator, Clive van den Berg, was very happy with the judges’ selection.
“It doesn’t matter what the medium is,” he said. “The judges selected a fresh, young and exciting collection. Any group of judges is going to have its own dynamic, and I am pleased that they found the performance and video work interesting, especially as both mediums have been neglected in this country in the past”.

The six winners are:
™ Abrie Fourie for his photographic works: Beverley Hills, Sunnyside, Pretoria 2007 and Changing Room, Hillcrest Swimming Pool, Pretoria 2007;
™ Chuma Sopotela, Mwenya Kabwe and Kemang WaLehulere for their performance U nyamo alunampumlo (The foot has no nose), a work that explores African urban centres, through a hybrid of theatrical forms including live-feed video projection, living installations and live performance work;
™ Bettina Malcomess, Rene Holleman and Linda Stupart for their performance Doing it for Daddy, a walking tour of the Spier Estate which reimages real and fictional histories;
™ Nina Barnett and Robyn Nesbitt for their video Warcry, a challenging and thrilling look at the war cries of two Johannesburg schools;
™ Andrew Putter for Secretly I will love you more, a haunting video installation based on three paintings in the Castle of Good Hope in which the portrait of Maria van Riebeek sings a Khoi Khoi lovesong-lullaby, celebrating her love for Krotoa, her adopted Khoi Khoi daughter; and
™ Peter van Heerden for his performance Die Uitlander, the African and the Vrouw, which looks at the patriotism, dedication and resolve of African women.

Receiving special mention were: Tegan Bristow for her video Chalk Vision; Bongani Joseph Khoza for his video On Trains with Bongani; and Kai Losgott and Anthea Moys for their video Unsaid.

There is one more award still to be made. This is the People’s Choice Award. Anyone visiting the exhibition can vote for their favourite artwork. On 20 February 2008 when the exhibition will close on the Spier Estate, the final winner will be announced. The seven award winners will share the prize money of R700,000. All the prizes will be some type of self study, residency programme or some form which promotes or progresses the artist’s career.

(High-res pics of art available)

Issued by African Equations on behalf of the Africa Centre
For further information contact Penny Gaines: penny@africanequations.co.za
(021) 461 5735/ 082 554 0554

Notes for editors:

The Spier Contemporary is a project of the Africa Centre, a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting and celebrating the rich history and contemporary practice of African arts and culture.

The exhibition will run at the Spier Estate until 20 February 2008 when it will move to the Johannesburg Art Gallery until May 2008. It will move to the Durban Art Gallery from 15 August to 1 November.

The exhibition space at Spier is a temporary structure which reflects the Africa Centre’s interest in designing temporary spaces specifically for the artistic production housed within them. Using retired shipping containers donated by Safmarine, the structure features an expansive entrance gallery and a sequence of three galleries punctuated by exterior courtyards. The containers are stacked to create thickened walls, with a majority of the exhibit mounted within the space created by those walls. A few select containers are occupied for smaller installations such as sound and video. The structure also serves to mark one of the Africa Centre’s future sites.

Artists’ bios:
Abrie Fourie’s work has been featured in exhibitions in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Belgium, Colombia and Berlin. He was nominated for the FNB Vita Art Award in 2002 and teaches Printed Image, Photography and Curatorial Studies at Technikon Pretoria.

Chuma Sopotela is a graduate from the University of Cape Town’s Drama School where she obtained a Performing Arts Diploma in acting, movement and voice.
Kabwe Mwenya is a Zambian born second year Masters student in Theatre and Performance at the University of Cape Town. She studied and worked in Ghana and the USA prior to coming to South Africa.
Kemang WaLehulere is a founding member of the Gugulective Arts Collective where he is a practicing video artist, print maker and painter.

Bettina Malcomess is a lecturer in art theory and history at the Stellenbosch Academy of Graphic Design and the University of Cape Town.
Renee Holleman is currently pursuing her MA in Fine Art at Michaelis, University of Cape Town.
Linda Stupart is currently studying towards her Masters degree at the Michaelis School of Fine Art. She works as a part-time lecturer at Michaelis and contributes to various South African art journals.

Nina Barnett has participated in several group shows locally and abroad and was recently awarded the Gerard Sekoto award at the ABSA L’Atelier 2007.
Robyn Nesbitt has participated in several group shows including Women, Photography and New Media at JAG in 2006.

Andrew Putter is an artist and a teacher. Some of his work included the Locker Room Project, Softserve and Ydetag. Andrew worked on 20 smells: an introduction to the world of the nose, and is currently working on a project called Hottentots Holland.

Peter van Heerden completed his Masters Degree at the University of Cape Town Drama Department in 2004 and is a lecturer in performance at CityVarsity in Cape Town He has presented live art installations at various venues, including the Grahamstown Festival.

For more information please go to www.africacentre.net or www.spiercontemporary.co.za