The National Arts Festival in Grahamstown
By Kim Gurney
The National Arts Festival in Grahamstown offers an interesting barometer of the state of visual arts in the country. Last year, issues of heritage took centre stage as artists considered the past 10 years of democracy. The common theme of home and heritage recurred as artists questioned their identity and place in society. The visual arts line-up this year appears more extrovert and experimental: fire sculptures and sound installations are just part of a diverse programme on offer for the 10-day festival that begins on June 30. More general issues like relationships and faith are investigated as artists look ahead to the second decade of post-apartheid democracy.
The official headline-grabber is Wim Botha, the Standard Bank Artist of the Year. He recently exhibited his hard-hitting show 'Cold Fusion' at the Michael Stevenson Contemporary Gallery in Cape Town. Botha is known for his subversion of official, religious and popular iconography. Last year, he exhibited Mieliepap Pieta, a replica in maize meal and epoxy resin of Michelangelo's 1499 Pieta, in the New York show 'Personal Affects' at the Cathedral of St John the Divine. If 'Cold Fusion' is anything to go by, Grahamstown visitors are in for a visual and conceptual treat.
Another conceptual heavyweight is Moshekwa Langa, now based in Amsterdam, who is brought to the festival courtesy of the Goodman Gallery.
'Ties that Bind' is curated by Durban Art Gallery director Carol Brown. It will juxtapose a variety of paintings, photographs, sculpture, beadwork and video to 'speak' to each other and the viewer about changing definitions of human relationships in a new South Africa. Artists include Clive van den Berg, Roger Ballen, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Lobolile Ximba and Angela Buckland.
Two photographic exhibitions will engage with the camera as the artist's tool. The first is a commemorative exhibition to the recently deceased photographer and printmaker, Andrew Meintjes. The second, 'Gregor Rorich's Project: Pictures for Life', documents the community work of Grahamstown's Centre for Social Development.
The 135-metre long Keiskamma Tapestry was very popular at last year's festival. A new work has been created for 2005 by the Eastern Cape collective of 120 rural embroiderers using thread, beads, woods and nguni hide. The Keiskamma Altarpiece and two 15-metre panels speak about faith.
'Sounds Crazy', a viewer-activated installation of seeing, touching and hearing, is presented by Holland's Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music and Grahamstown's Studio for Interactive Sound.
And artist Brendhan Dickerson is likely to steal the show when he literally sets his artworks alight on Friday July 8 at 6pm. A succession of other shapes and meanings are set to be revealed as fire consumes his tableau of sculptures to leave only a pile of ashes in its wake.
There will be various walkabouts of the exhibitions during the duration of the festival.
Opens: June 30
Closes: July 9
Various venues, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown
Tel: 046 603 1103
Website: www.nafest.co.za
