The Cape Francolin Art Hotel
by Kobus van der Merwe
In the picturesque town of Riebeeck-Kasteel, north of Cape Town, an assemblage of note is patiently taking shape. It could have been any old farmhouse in any small town somewhere between Cape Town and the Little Karoo, but just a glimpse of the weather-vane in the front garden, reminiscent of a Tim Burton film prop, suggests that something slightly more progressive lies behind the charmingly old-fashioned exterior. This is the fascinating Cape Francolin Art hotel, where the lines between art and business become distinctly blurry.
Two years ago, having completed an Honours Degree in Fine Art and Critical Studies at the acclaimed Central St. Martin's School of Art in London, artist David Bellamy and his dog Clive - co-proprietor and bon vivant from Grassy Park - embarked on turning their Riebeeck-Kasteel property into a living installation.
The hotel itself is the principle work: an organism functioning as art where people come and go, objects are added and taken away, and damage is suffered and visibly repaired - all forming part of the ongoing process of documenting history and showing the passage and process of time. The secondary work is the building's sidewall that doubles as a billboard, constantly being over-painted to echo the ever-changing events at the hotel. David and Clive's names form the first layer of this significant work, which now advertises anything from new exhibitions to poetry and martinis.
Like the polite, well-versed hoteliers they are, David and Clive take even accidental visitors on a personal guided tour of the property, pointing out various found objects and works for sale, along the way. 'I like to think of the hotel as a kind of three-dimensional catalogue', says David, 'As time passes the rooms will be furnished by more and more components specifically commissioned from artists and craftspeople', he says. In the garden he points at a piece of rusty wire twisted to spell the phrase, 'yes no yes no yes'. 'A poem about love and ambiguity', he remarks dubiously.
In the old barn, overlooking vineyards and grazing springbok, architectural pieces of wood and art deco furniture stand guard to the Cape Francolin's official exhibition space, currently housing a series of black and white photographs by Tracey Derrick entitled 'Waters of Life'. The hotel's inaugural exhibition was another show by Derrick entitled 'Earthworks', previously shown at the Hayward Gallery in London.
The hotel's permanent collection comprises an impressive range of fine art including work by two Turner prize-winners: a photograph by Wolfgang Tillmans and two multiples by Damien Hirst, as well as a print by Jean Cocteau. Various other works are specially commissioned for the hotel's monthly 'Emerald Dover' supper club, often requesting artists to allow production of items by people with medium levels of technical skill, to generate employment.
The supper club - aptly named after the antique stove - is a 'food as art' event consisting of six 'gourmet boerekos' courses inspired by C. Louis Leipoldt. Using ingredients indigenous to the Riebeeck valley and wines from the Swartland region, the supper club is a deliberate stab at South African identity conservation - one of the hotel's leitmotifs. 'We call it gourmet boerekos because we are trying to establish a location-specific, history-rich form of South African food that isn't trying to commit identity suicide by being too international' David explains.
Another of the Cape Francolin's important themes is turning the ordinary and arbitrary into whimsical theatrics. Afternoon tea, for example, is served in 'cups of happiness' and dinner is followed by 'coffee poured from a golden pot'. The shabby shed is decorated with heart-shaped fairy lights and presented as the magical 'stoep l�amour' where guests overlook a scrap yard filled with 'salvaged architecture' - thick wooden beams and old doors rescued from demolished property. Back in the lounge the late afternoon mood is set by the melancholy sounds of Goldfrapp, Gillian Welch and Anthony and the Johnsons - the owners' eclectic choice of 'music for an art hotel'.
With its fascinating conglomerate of installations and arbitrary found objects - reminiscent of the assemblages by Joseph Cornell - as well as serious art, unassuming exhibition space, theatrical activities and friendly accommodation, all functioning as a business, the Cape Francolin is a landmark in the South African art landscape.
The Cape Francolin Art Hotel
50 Church Street, Riebeeck-Kasteel
Tel: (022) 448 1176 or 084 314 5741
Hours: Sat - Sun 10am - 5pm
