Archive: Issue No. 135, November 2008

20.11.08 Nontsikelelo Veleko at the Durban Art Gallery
04.11.08 'Timbuktu Script and Scholarship' at the Durban Art Gallery
06.11.08 Bronwen Vaughan-Evans at Bank Gallery
03.11.08 Aparna Swarup at Kizo Art Gallery
18.11.08 Dinkies Sithole at Kizo Art Gallery
24.11.08 'Annual Affordable Art Show' at artSPACE durban
26.11.08 'Collection 2008: Broken Heirlooms' at Artisan Contemporary

14.10.08 Cameron Platter at KZNSA
17.10.08 Lallitha Jawahirilal at the African Art Centre
27.10.08 Jane du Rand at artSPACE durban
27.10.08 'Diminutive': a group exhibition of miniatures at artSPACE durban
14.10.08 'Sakhisizwe' at KZNSA Gallery
29.10.08 'Photographic Expressions' at Artisan Contemporary Gallery
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')

2.03.08 'Recent Acquisitions' at the Durban Art Gallery

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

'Timbuktu Script and Scholarship' is an exhibition of manuscripts from the holdings of the Ahmed Baba Institute (IHERI-AB) in Timbuktu, Mali. The manuscripts are evidence of an African written and intellectual tradition dating back hundreds of years. Displaying several styles of fine Arabic calligraphy, the most beautiful examples have gold illumination and finely tooled leather covers.

The exhibition is a joint project between Iziko Museums of Cape Town and the Department of Arts and Culture. It is part of a larger Presidential Project involving South Africa and Mali on the preservation of the manuscripts and the construction of a new library in Timbuktu to house the collection of the Ahmed Baba Institute.

The aim of the exhibition is to reclaim the scholarship and written legacy of Africa. The manuscripts on display show a diversity of subject matter, ranging from religion and literature to astronomy and mathematics, while also giving a sense of daily life as reflected in legal opinions and commercial transactions in Timbuktu.

The exhibition will present the manuscripts in the historical and cultural context of scholarship in West Africa. By celebrating the manuscripts as cultural treasures of Africa, the exhibition will promote the values and objectives of the African Renaissance, and the continuation of cultural ties between South Africa and the rest of the African continent.

'Timbuktu Script & Scholarship' is a travelling exhibition and its tour of the country ends in early December 2008. The exhibition is complemented by a catalogue and is funded by the national Department of Arts and Culture and supported by Standard Bank.

Opens: November 4
Closes: November 16

Bank Gallery showcases 'Memento Mori', a solo exhibition by Durban artist Bronwen Vaughan-Evan, a new body of work which looks at death and memory.

Vaughan-Evans' work is created using a process of layering white gesso on top of black gesso to create a controlled surface in which the dark layer sits just beneath a thin, light skin alluding to a metaphorical weight beneath the surface of things. The images reference experiences both forgotten and remembered, and are created by sanding through the thin top layer to reveal the dark gesso beneath.

'Conceptually my work is about excavation; this is reinforced by the removal of the surface to create the image. I work with imagery that interrogates both physical and emotional spaces. Because gesso was used in icon painting and as a traditional Renaissance ground, it can be seen as a haloed surface. By cutting into or scarring this surface, I try to investigate not only the conceptual issues of unearthing my past, but also the traditions of western painting under which I have studied.'

Memento Mori is a Latin phrase that translates as 'Remember that you are mortal' and traditionally refers to a form of image created to remind the viewer that death is an unavoidable and inevitable part of life.

Vaughan-Evans writes, 'The works on the show refer as much to the small deaths or punctuations in life, which are catalysts for remembrance/reflection, as they do physical mortality. Here "death" becomes a punctuation that allows us a moment of reflection. For me, it is in that moment that I feel a memory is born. Paradoxically, it is also at that moment that memory starts to degrade and we begin the process of archiving the details of an event. The whole never survives and a memory becomes an accumulation of details or moments. In these works the surface holds a trace of the process of erasing/degrading the image and the desire to retain the memory is mirrored by the effort to retain the surface.'

Vaughan-Evans received her Master's of Arts in Fine Arts in 1995 from the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg and a Higher Diploma in Education in 1998 from the University of South Africa.

In 2004 she had her first solo show entitled 'one zero one' at the KZNSA Gallery. Recently she collaborated with Nontobeko Ntombela on a project entitled 'Negotiated Spaces' also at the KZNSA Gallery. Her most recent solo show 'Home is where the Heart is' opened at Gallery Momo in Johannesburg in June. Vaughan-Evans lectures at the Fine Art Department of the Durban University of Technology. Her work is included in corporate, public and private collections both locally and internationally.

Opens: November 6
Closes: December 6

Indian artist Aparna Swarup presents 'Confluence' at Kizo Art Gallery. Having travelled and practised her career in different continents, Swarup is grounded in her practice and her upcoming exhibition is a reflection and a response to her life experience.

Born in Kanpur, India, Swarup did her early schooling there. As a child she participated in several painting competitions both at the school and at national levels, winning honours and distinctions in some of them. She completed her Undergraduate studies at Rajasthan University in 1984 and obtained a Master's Degree from Punjab University in 1986.

After taking a break, she started pursuing art seriously during her diplomat husband's stint in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she learnt from several Ethiopian masters. She moved to London in 2000 where she studied life painting and mixed media painting at Central St. Martin's to further refine her technique.

In January 2000 she participated in a major exhibition organised by the Heinrich Boll Foundation. With this exhibition, Swarup's works travelled to Germany and several countries in East Africa. Impressed with her work, the Alliance Française in Addis Ababa hosted her first solo exhibition in May 2000. In February 2002, she held her first solo exhibition in London at the Nehru Centre in Mayfair.

The exhibition will be opened by Mr RK Bhatia, the High Commissioner of India.

Opens: November 3
Closes: November 16

'Meditating with Shamans 2' by Dinkies Sithole opens at Kizo Art Gallery this month. This is Sithole's first solo exhibition in KwaZulu Natal. He explores a range of media from tap dancing, to video work and painting.

Born in Soweto, Sithole studied at the Pelmama Art Centre and learned his dance techniques as a member of the Whizzkid Dance Group in the late 1980s. He has practiced ballet, breakdancing and tap-dancing. As dancer and choreographer he has been involved in Arts Alive and the Grahamstown Arts Festival.

Sithole is much inspired by ritualistic and spiritual journeys, with his work, way of life and love of nature being inextricably linked. Since childhood he has been fascinated by the philosophy and painting techniques using natural pigments on the raw rock face of the San people.

Following an exchange of ideas with Asian students during exhibitions in New York and Vermont, Sithole has been influenced also by Shaman and Buddhist philosophies. The work on show reflects a certain calligraphic quality, using oriental inks and collage techniques on textured rice papers. Sithole explores the relationship between the elements, and his paintings speak of human spiritual experience in uncovering our hidden sentiments as we confront our reality in relation to time and space.

Selected solo and group exhibitions include 'Meditating with the Shamans', Franchise Gallery, Johannesburg (2005); 'Dinkies Sithole', Hanover Street Gallery, Liverpool (2001); and 'Imidlalo', Rembrandt van Rijn Gallery, Newtown, Johannesburg (1997). Selected group exhibitions include 'New Painting', at the KZNSA Gallery in Durban, Unisa Art Gallery in Pretoria and Johannesburg Art Gallery (2005-2006); 'Identities: Cross Path Culture', New York, USA (2001); and 'Primitive Sculpture Exhibition', Newtown Galleries, Johannesburg (1992).

Opens: November 18
Closes: December 7

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

The KZNSA gallery hosts 'Studio', a solo exhibition by Cameron Platter in the Main, Mezzanine and Electric Galleries.

The main gallery will recreate a working sculpture studio, in which the public is invited and encouraged to participate. In this space, Platter and a team of sculptors will work on, assemble, chop up and customize a large sculptural installation of carved wooden objets, collectively entitled Sculptures for New Living. Ranging from a car (a mélange of a Ferrari, 4 x 4, and cash-in-transit van) to a jetski/coffin/cooler box, and a minibar/ATM/soundsystem, as well as other post-apocalyptic madmaxian objets de survival , the sculptures are works-in-progress of a work-in-progress. The installation will be supplemented, pared and retooled to suit its next venue.

In the Mezzanine and Electric Galleries, Platter will show new experimental drawing, video, ceramic and print works.

Over the last few years, Platter has focused on the basics, concentrating on handcrafting drawing, video, and sculptural works with meticulous attention, and above all, humour, balancing artistic rigour with a return to childlike simplicity. In this body of work Platter decodes stranger-than-fiction realities drawn from contemporary living. His off-the-wall, delinquent take on the world is the departure lounge for his fantastical works. Sex, politics, irony, satire, mortality, adulthood, economics and Champagne are noted in his new investigations.

Interaction between artists and viewers will be a core element of this show. Instead of the usual opening night, the real action will take place at a finissage celebration on Friday November 7, where some of the sculptural pieces will be put to work.

Platter lives in Shaka's Rock, KwaZulu-Natal and works from a studio in a sub-tropical forest. He has recently presented work at Art 39 Basel, and two solo shows in Vienna and Milan.

Opens: October 14
Finissage party: 6pm, November 7
Closes: November 9

The African Art Centre hosts an exhibition of mixed media paintings by Lallitha Jawahirilal.

Jawahirilal was born in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, and has a Master's in Painting from the Royal College of Art in London. She has participated in residencies in Johannesburg, Cape Town, London, Berlin, Spain and the Himalayas. She draws inspiration for her mixed media and conceptual work from the 'spiritual activity and energy of different cultural landscapes'.

The exhibition will be opened by Sharlene Khan.

Opens: October 17
Closes: November 8

In 'Loathing and Loving and Giving' Jane Du Rand uses ceramics and mosaics made from numerous bits and pieces to explore the daily emotions that she experiences as a working mother. It is an attempt at balance: how to be completely selfish and yet selfless at the same time.

Tiny ceramic pieces are put together using shape and texture to express opposing emotions. The colours she employs are expressive of the divergent feelings that come with being a mother, and numerous circular forms suggest encircling, cupping and protecting that which is valuable and precious.

The exhibition will be opened by Janina Masojada.

Opens: October 27
Closes: November 15

The unobtrusive miniature is often overlooked, one's attention drawn to much larger scale works. This exhibition venerates the voice of the small, its ability to express the modest as well as the grand. Included in the show are works in all visual media no larger than 15 x 15cm.

Selected artists from all over South Africa have been invited to exhibit their work, amongst them: Pascale Chandler, Jeremy Wafer, Nina Saunders, Anet Norval, Kristin Hua Yang, Jenny Parsons, Mary Visser, Grace Kotze, Sharon Burger, Liezel Prins, Verna Jooste, Janet Solomon, Jeanine Dekker, Karen Bradtke, Dee Donaldson, Immie Mostert, Peter Rippon, Marlene de Beer and Marlene Wasserman.

Opens: October 27
Closes: November 15

The Sakhisizwe ('We are building a nation') Mental Health Project was the brainchild of an inmate who has subsequently been released. While in prison he observed the depression and poor mental health suffered by fellow inmates and felt that, in order for effective rehabilitation, help was needed for these troubled men. So, they began meeting regularly to share their stories, challenges, hopes and dreams. This resulted in the formation of the Project in the Medium C Section in Durban which houses approximately 800 offenders serving sentences up to 15 years.

The Lifeline Durban Prison Programme works with this group, equipping inmates with life skills, enhancing their self-awareness and personal growth, helping them cope with incarceration and preparing them for release. The art component of this course is part of a national initiative in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Lifeline. Exhibited at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, earlier this year, the exhibitionl now moves to the KZNSA.

Teacher Paulette Barker and Prison Project Manager Barbara McLean demonstrate their group's restorative process by using artists Paul Klee and Vincent van Gogh as inspiration and case studies. The outcome is a series of portraits and self-portraits that burst with the freedom of expression through colour - themes extended into the incredibly vibrant and rich works on 'life in prison' and 'memories and dreams'.

Opens: October 14

Closes: November 9

'Photographic Expressions' is an apt title for this exhibition of digital images which opens at Artisan Contemporary Gallery on October 29.

According to Artisan curator Sue Greenberg, the images seen through the lenses of Dr Willem Oets, Jon Ivans, Jane Bedford, Bernine du Toit and several other photographers have been selected from more than 100 submissions for this exhibition. On display, in black and white and in full colour, are landscapes, portraits and abstracts illustrating how far still photography has progressed from the once fondly held belief that photography never lies.

Exponents of this art form today rely as much on computer literacy as on composition, lighting and subject matter, all of which makes for a fascinating exhibition.

Opens: October 29
Closes: November 19

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

The Durban Art Gallery will be opening an exhibition of 'Recent Acquisitions' on March 20 in the circular gallery. As acquiring new artworks is one of the core functions of any art museum, this installation will feature all donations and acquisitions made over the last three years.

The DAG has an acquisitions committee made up of visual artists, educators and key representatives from the Durban art world who select according to a laid down DAG policy which considers conceptual, aesthetic, social, historical issues among others and how the particular work will fit into the existing collection. The DAG accepts donations and these are also vetted by the same committee with the same criteria.

The installation will show a variety of media, which include works by Langa Magwa, Johannes Phokela, Duke Ketye to name a few. Within the holdings is a growing collection of works around HIV/AIDS and included on the exhibition is a recent donation by Bernice Stott titled Femidoms and Traditional Herbs, which centres around women's choices through developments such as the femidom and the juxtaposition thereof against traditional medicine in women's health.

For more information contact gallery curator Jenny Stretton on (031) 3112262.

Opens: March 20
Closes: April 20