When is a biennale not a biennale?
In Artthrob's 2002 Year-end Summary, South African artist Kendell Geers let rip with the following: 'In the post-Documenta period the honeymoon is certainly over for South African, not to mention African, art and artists... The chips are [now] down and Africa is the last place on earth that curators will now be looking for art.'
The statement is typical Geers. At a glance it seems to be a simple provocation designed to needle the global art community. On a deeper reading however it highlights one of the very real questions that have emerged following globalism and the rise of the international biennale system: Sure, mega-exhibitions from Documenta through to 'Africa Remix' have thrown the spotlight on art from Africa. But after the spotlight has faded... what then?
CAPE is a new a biennial cultural project that aims to directly address this challenge. Billing itself as a 'biennial cultural project that is not just another biennale' the project is conceived to contest the One World/ One A-List formula of the international biennale system by creating an African-based platform to explore the multi-layered diversity of art and culture on the continent.
At the same time CAPE seeks to avoid the pitfalls of previous extravaganzas held on African soil that have too often brought only short-term limited benefits to the broader cultural communities. 'One of the key challenges of CAPE is to embark on a journey, not of restrictive definition but actualisation', explains CAPE's CEO Susan Glanville-Zini, 'Our aim isn�t to become another biennale - the temporary locus for a travelling road show that displays its wares before heading off to the next art mart.'
Ambitious? Sure, but if CAPE's plans for its first (2005/2006) cycle are anything to go by then it looks well positioned to achieve its goals.
The cycle kicks off with 'SESSIONS eKAPA', an international arts meeting held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from December 4 - 6, 2005. The theme of the meeting is 'Mzantsi: (Re)Locating Contemporary African Art Practice' and the aim of the speakers - who include Geers, along with acclaimed international theorists such as Olu Oguibe and local practitioners like Thembinkosi Goniwe - is to explore the interface between local art practice and global art circuits.
Next on the agenda is a major art manifestation planned for September next year. Manifestation? Well, yes - rather than simply an exhibition, Cape's first large scale art event is set to be a 'multidisciplinary experience' that doesn't limit itself to visual art practices or the traditional confines of the gallery space.
Exactly how that might manifest itself is still wide open, dependent on the vision of whoever is selected as the Art Director for the event. According to CAPE, its selection committee - a task team drawn from Cape Town's diverse cultural worlds and including Emma Bedford, Julian Jonker, Mirjam Asmal-Dijk, Mokena Makeka, Mustafa Maluka, Ntone Edjabe, Susan Glanville-Zini and Zayd Minty - is currently in the last stages of choosing a candidate for the curatorial position.
Once the selection has been made the candidate will have the opportunity to attend 'SESSIONS eKAPA' in December and use the ideas and provocations that emerge from the meeting's 3 day programme of dialogues and site-specific discussions to inform his or her final proposal.
And if the preliminary programme is anything to go by, 'SESSIONS eKAPA' should give them plenty of food for thought and possible future action. Day one of the meeting sees speakers - ranging from theorist Achille Mbembe, to writer, editor and curator N�Goné Fall, to international curators including Trienal de Luanda's Fernando Alvim, Documenta 12's Ruth Noack and inSite_05's Michael Krichman - exploring alternative models of large scale curation, and the problems and potentials of the exhibition as art practice in Africa.
The second session of the day is set to be especially fiery. 'Dangerous Liaisons: Artists, Curators, Institutions' sees writer, poet, art historian and curator Olu Oguibe joining young gun South African curator Andrew Lamprecht and artist Moshekwa Langa in a critical exposé of the relationships between artists, curators and institutions.
The evening programme on Monday December 4 will be open to the public and will include an address by 'SESSIONS eKAPA's' keynote speaker, Gavin Jantjes. An artist, writer, curator and educator, Jantjes has first hand experience of the tensions between the local and global artworlds. Raised in Cape Town's District Six, Jantjes attended Michaelis School of Fine Art before being forced into exile in the early 70s. Subsequently, based mostly in the UK and Norway, Jantjes has received extensive international acclaim for his innovations in global arts practice.
The second day of 'SESSIONS eKAPA' gives delegates an opportunity to step out of the Cape Town International Convention Centre and head into Cape Town for an experiential engagement with the city itself via a series of minilaboratories, convened by a diverse set of independent cultural provocateurs coming from South Africa, Africa and the diaspora.
Delegates can expect to partake in anything from a site-specific, performance-based exploration of the carnival, to a route-specific journey into contemporary Cape Town cultural practice or a cyber excursion into a virtual networked Africa. Also on the bill is an exploration into graffiti culture and a psychogeographic intervention that invites delegates to remap the city's hidden histories.
On Day 3 delegates return to the panel discussions to interrogate art activism and the art institution, as well as the availability and comparability of African forums for conversation about art practice. First up is a conversation titled 'Messy States of the Art: Transgressing the Boundaries of Art Practice and Activism'. With speakers that include Kendell Geers, Tracey Rose and Thembinkosi Goniwe, this is set to be a fervid discussion exploring the boundaries of art practice and its potential for provoking political change and social development.
Next is a multidisciplinary forum that sees artists from across the continent coming together to network, share ideas, and be heard. Delegates can expect to engage with the likes of journalist, DJ and cultural activist Ntone Edjabe, new media researcher and the trinity session co-founder Marcus Neustetter, Pan-African Circle of Artists' Krydz Ikwuemesi and africanhiphop.com's Thomas Gesthuizen.
The day ends with an open discussion that brings together participants from the preceding sessions to explore how the conversations that have taken place during 'SESSIONS eKAPA 2005' can enrich the debates around contemporary art in Africa, and inform the development of CAPE's major art manifestation to be held in 2006.
As 'SESSIONS eKAPA' co-ordinator Julian Jonker says: 'The meeting therefore offers not only a vital and urgent African forum for thought and discussion about art practice on the continent, but also the opportunity to be part of the development of exciting new models for art practice and large scale manifestation.'
A number of exciting speakers are still to be confirmed so keep checking www.capeafrica.org for updates.
Registration for 'SESSIONS eKAPA 2005' is open to the public but seats are limited. For further details, visit www.capeafrica.org. To register, contact the conference secretariat, Kashief Gamieldien, at kashief@tribalco.co.za or +27 (0) 21 697 0180.
