'Beeldspraak' auction at University of Johannesburg Art Gallery
by Michael Smith
'Beeldspraak', the extensive 52-week project initiated and coordinated by Gordon Froud and Chris Diedricks, culminated in an auction on March 22. Works by a range of important established and emerging artists were auctioned in aid of the Johannesburg Children's Fund, and the event netted over R180 000 for this worthy cause. Congratulations must go to Froud and Diedricks, whose innovative idea to get SA contemporary art more squarely onto the agenda of the SA public seems to have garnered a response that even they couldn't have predicted. This is also a great start to the newly established UJ's involvement in the SA art scene. It also asks the question: what�s happening at Wits University Art Galleries?
BHP Billiton/Wits University Visual Arts Fellowship
by Michael Smith
On March 23, Wits University in partnership with mining company BHP Billiton announced the launch of a Visual Arts Fellowship, which seeks to 'promote inspirational teaching and practice in the visual arts'. Stating that the Fellowship was focused on candidates from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, Professor Penny Siopis said that Wits' desire was to remedy a situation that saw black art and artists insufficiently represented in the Fine Art Department. Furthermore, Professor Siopis expressed an interest in promoting a dynamic interchange between art education and art practice.
Natasha Fuller, speaking on behalf of BHP Billiton, affirmed Billiton's commitment to developing SA visual arts beyond the realm of its already significant corporate collection and into education. Billiton's initial R150 000 commitment to the first three years of the project will enable selected Fellows to commence periods of lecturing and art practice at Wits, for between three and six months. The funds will cover each Fellow's residence at a flat in the Wits School of Arts, a monthly stipend, and the mounting of an exhibition of work at the end of the Fellow's stay.
Only previously disadvantaged individuals who have graduated from South African institutions should be nominated. The qualification would be a fine arts degree/diploma or equivalent. Nominations should be from South African institutions offering degrees in Fine Arts (no more than three nominations per institution), or individual nominations from any professional of standing in the field; candidates may not nominate themselves.
Nominations should be accompanied by the following:
- A letter of motivation from the nominator(s)
- A statement of intent from the nominee
- The nominee's curriculum vitae
- Examples of the nominee's artistic work (slides, CDs, DVDs, videos and catalogues)
- Two independent letters of reference in support of the nominee
- Any reviews of exhibitions the nominee may have held.
A board comprising seven people, two each from BHP Billiton and Wits and three independent professionals in the field will select the successful fellow.
Closing date for nominations: May 31
Nominations and inquiries should be sent to: Natalia Fiandeiro
Wits School of Arts University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS, 2050
Tel: (011) 717 4663
Fax: (011) 339 7601
Email: fiandeiron@artworks.wits.ac.za
The Jo'burg Art Bank established
by Michael Smith
Building on templates established in Australia and Canada, the City of Johannesburg (COJ) has set the wheels in motion for the setting up of the Jo'burg Art Bank. The idea is that the Art Bank, functioning as an independent trust initially funded by the COJ but aiming to become self-sufficient, will purchase artworks from Johannesburg-based artists, and then lease them out to businesses over a two-year period. A total of 3500 artworks will be purchased over three years, at a total value of R13m.
The project has three major benefits: the mobilizing of capital for injection straight into artists' pockets; the exposure of corporate South Africa to a wider range of exciting art talent, thereby cultivating a potential market for contemporary art; and ultimately the building up of an important collection of art by a wide selection of SA artists. The catch comes in the fact that the highest price paid for artworks will be R10 000, essentially limiting the scope of the collection to small works by established artists, printed works, or items from the murky end of the SA art gene pool. The intention is to focus 'specific attention [on] procuring artworks by emerging artists'. This is a laudable qualification of a broad mission statement: we trust the COJ will use public funds wisely in deciding which works by unproven newbies to collect. Maybe they'll even let some of us non-corporate taxpayers into swish glacial money-monuments to look at our art from time to time.
