Archive: Issue No. 136, December 2008

16.11.08 'Suss't' at KZNSA
16.11.08 'Buzzart' at the KZNSA
13.12.08 'The Singing Chameleon' at the Durban Art Gallery

20.11.08 Nontsikelelo Veleko at the Durban Art Gallery
24.11.08 'Annual Affordable Art Show' at artSPACE durban
26.11.08 'Collection 2008: Broken Heirlooms' at Artisan Contemporary

29.10.08 'Indian Ink: Indian South Africans in the media - a history of propaganda and resistance' at the Durban Art Gallery

7.09.08 'Construct: Beyond the Documentary Photograph' at the Durban Art Gallery
9.08.08 ''Pic(k) of the Dag ' at the Durban Art Gallery (formerly called 'Schools Curriculum')

The inaugural 'Suss't' exhibition, which takes place at the KZNSA Gallery is the result of a partnership between the KZNSA and Design Indaba. Curated by Brenton Maart, the exhibition exhibits the broad wealth of design and creativity inherent in South Africa, most of which regularly feature in the annual Design Indaba Expo. Exhibitors and objects have been selected based on their relevancy to sustainability.

In showcasing the best of local sustainable design, the exhibition functions as an illustration of how design is capable of saving us from ourselves. Sustainability has long carried the stigma of inferior quality and being overpriced relative to the market. Additionally, the many elements of sustainability have been derided by neoclassical economists as economically inefficient. But the very definition of efficiency is radically changing as its measure shifts from profit to units of carbon, methane and social stability. With that shift, everything changes. And with new technologies and innovative approaches to materials and design, sustainability has lost its stigma. In fact, it's starting to sparkle and shine.

The exhibition adopts a multi-pronged definition of sustainability through:
Environmentally and ecologically sustainable products, including Koop's alien wood furniture by Richard Stretton and Angela Shaw, a minimalist range that packs up into a box.

Sustainable growth through skills development and application, including Aardmore Ceramics, whose depictions of indigenous animal and plant life, and visual interpretations of Zulu mythology, have seen them win major awards and their work housed in significant international art collections.

Sustainable economic growth through network development, including the Soda project, which is a best-practice model of collaboration between the country's high-end fashion industry and its skilled rural crafters.

Sustainable development, including the Hillcrest Aids Project (the makers of the gorgeous Little Travellers) and the Monkeybiz Project (which employs thousands of people in and around Cape Town to develop and produce the wacky beaded animals that have seen them gain international fame).

Opens: November 16
Closes: January 11

Gloria Hoff's annual Christmas gift show is now legendary and brings in all of Durban who are looking for funky, affordable gifts. A wide variety to suit every pocket and taste is on view.

'The Singing Chameleon' is an event which will attract the younger generation during the school holidays. The story is an inspirational and compelling retelling of a Malawian tale by internationally respected author and storyteller Gcina Mhlophe, with bright and bold illustrations by artist Kalle Becker. The book is for children and the Durban Art Gallery will be presenting an exhibition of original artworks used in the book alongside storytelling sessions by Mhlope.

Becker was born in Goettingen, Germany in 1964. He studied graphics, filmmaking, photography and Russian in Germany and the Ukraine. As a filmmaker and actor he has worked in Germany, Russia, Georgia and South Africa. He is also a freelance artist and illustrator of children's books. Becker is married to Mhlope.

Opens: 12pm, December 13
Closes: January 1

Nontsikelelo Veleko is only the second photographer to win the Standard bank Young Artist Award. Her 'art through the lens' has also achieved world recognition with her early project entitled www.notblackenough.lolo, which explored perceptions in South Africa of mixed heritage.

Veleko studied graphic design at the Cape Technikon (1995) and then photography at the Market Theatre Photo Workshop. She was nominated for the MTN New Contemporaries in 2003 and was awarded a two-month residency with the International Photographic Research Network in the UK where her project looked at work, identity and clothes.

2006 saw her hitting the broader international circuit, showing work on 'Personae & Scenarios - the new African photography' at Brancolini Grimaldi Arte Contemporanea in Rome, Italy and 'Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography' at the ICP in New York amongst other major shows. On the home front she showed 'Second to None', curated by Gabi Ngcobo and Virginia MacKenny at Iziko SANG in Cape Town, and 'Freestyle: Sanlam Fashion Week 2006' at Afronova in Newtown, Johannesburg.

2007 was a busy year for Veleko - her work was included on 'Reality Check', an exhibition of contemporary South African photography at the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (NBK) in Berlin, curated by Pam Warne of Iziko South African National Gallery, and her portraits feature alongside the acclaimed late Malian photographer, Seydou Keita at Danziger Projects, New York in 'Seydou Keita and Lolo Veleko Fashion'.

'Wonderland' presents Veleko's fashion and urban art photographs. The exhibition will be opened at the Durban Art Gallery by Carol Brown on November 20.

Open: November 20
Close: January 18, 2009

artSPACE durban's 6th 'Annual Affordable Art Show' is one of their most popular annual exhibitions. The gallery has collected a wide range of fine art for sale whilst keeping the prices down. The maximum sale price is again R2 500 this year. In years past almost 100 artists have participated, showcasing a variety of media from oil paintings, ceramics, sculptures and prints to photographs. Contributing artists this year include Andrew Verster, Grace Kotze, Jane Mennigke, Coral Spencer, Rob Domijan, Marianne Meijer, Roz Cryer, Martha Zettler, Denise de Sa, Yusef Vahed and many many more.

Opens: November 24
Closes: January 17

'Collection 2008: Broken Heirlooms' is the focus of Artisan Contemporary Gallery's annual multi-media collection exhibition. The exhibition will be opened by art educator and artist Shelagh Scholes at 6pm on Wednesday, November 26.

Spearheading the exhibitors is well-known fine artist Brenda Richardson whose large charcoal drawings focus on 'the souls of all those trees that have been sacrificed in the name of progress and development'.

Joining her in this group exhibition are leading ceramicists, jewellers, wood-turners, sculptors and fabric artists.

Said Artisan curator, Sue Greenberg, 'Aldo Leopold wrote: "Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a tree, one need only own a shovel". Against this backdrop, the exhibitors have been asked to think laterally and organically and focus especially on the threats posed by urban sprawl and relentless logging operations. I am excited about their interpretations of this wondrous, life-giving resource which we all too often take for granted.'

Open: November 26 at 6pm
Closes: mid-January 2009

For the average person who grew up in apartheid South Africa, the bizarre reality of being confined almost exclusively to living and interacting with people classified as the same racial group was made to feel almost natural by the routine activities of daily life. The enforcement of division among apartheid subjects created fertile grounds for racialised notions of 'us' and 'them'. Under these conditions racial stereotypes were deeply internalised, resulting often in oversimplified and exaggerated negative archetypes allowing the forcibly estranged racial groups 'to display their likes or dislikes of the other'.

Photography has been used by colonial regimes since the mid-19th century to construct and perpetuate racial stereotypes. For example, author of the accompanying book and curator of 'Indian Ink: Indian South Africans in the media - a history of propaganda and resistance' Riason Naidoo, argues how the photos in Meet the Indian in South Africa (1950) and The Indian South African (1975) produced by the State Information Office reveal how the state exploited notions such as the rich 'Indian' to create the perception abroad that 'black' people (i.e. 'Africans', 'Indians' and 'Coloureds') were benefiting under the apartheid state.

Images of 'Indian' affluence are contrasted with portraits of indentured labourers from the 19th century that are intended to emphasise the notion of the wealthy Indian under apartheid. Other photos in the publication play on other 'Indian' stereotypes such as caste, religion and the exotic through vivid photographic examples.

The exhibition includes previously unseen photos taken by well known names such as Bob Gosani, Alf Kumalo, Jurgen Schadeberg, Peter Magubane and Barney Desai, although the major body of work comes from Ranjith Kally and G R Naidoo who were based at the Drum office in Durban. The images on the exhibition (and in the book) argue that this form of self representation, of 'black' writers and photographers having access to and recording this history, has been hidden in the general portrayal of the 'Indian' in the country.

Opens: October 29
Closes: February 15, 2009

South Africa has a long and rich history of documentary photography and many of its practitioners are internationally known. 'Construct', curated by Heidi Erdmann with Jacob Lebeko, features Roger Ballen, Zander Blom, Lien Botha, Jacques Coetzer, Abrie Fourie, Nomusa Makhubu, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Barbra Wildenboer, Dale Yudelman and Berni Searle.

Historically the medium of photography provided a representational document with the fixed referent of reality. For this exhibition the curators wanted to uncover photographers working in and through the medium in an innovative way. Each artist here contributes a unique visual vocabulary, challenging the traditional stereotype of photography by pushing the shifting boundaries of the medium. Works selected for this exhibition needed to enquire into notions of construction, deconstruction and/or reconstruction.

The way in which the photographers use the medium was the primary curatorial focus and an installation that unlocked the potential dialogues between the different works was also imperative.

Opens: September 19
Closes: January 31, 2009

The Durban Art Gallery has collaborated on a project with the Department of Education in making works on the curriculum available for learners to view. The Gallery's collection is seldom seen in its diversity due to space constraints, so this exhibition will not only enhance the learners' appreciation of the works they are studying but also provide a view into the collection's scope for the general public. It will be on semi-permanent display.

Opens: August 16