Studio space in Cape Town

From: Conrad Hicks

I have recently bought the old Bijou Cinema in the Lower Main Road in Observatory. There is lots of good studio space and exhibition space available for artists and craftspersons. Please e-mail me at blacksmith@earthleak.co.za or phone (021) 447-5066.

Invitation from Argentina: Digital art competition

From: Anahi Caceres

Arte al Día magazine invites you to participate in our first Festival and Digital Art competition on arteuna.com. The competition will be co-ordinated by Mosto & Rojas Arte.

The great challenge posed by this competition is the possibility of enabling artists who are exploring these new technologies to thoroughly exploit the multiple resources which constitute not only a tool of still unpredictable scope, but also a new and different language in contemporary art.

About multiplicity, Italo Calvino has stated: "No matter how carefully planned the overall composition may be, it is not the outcome - the production of a harmonious figure - that counts, but rather the centrifugal force that is liberated, the plurality of languages that becomes the guarantee for a non-partial truth ..."

"...because events are always faster and more pressing than the pondering on events." - Umberto Ecco

Following an initiative from ArteUna, Mosto & Rojas and Arte al Día magazine, and for the first time in the web, an International Digital Art Competition will be held on the internet.

The main characteristic of this convening is the exclusive use of the web to exhibit the works and participate in the ballot, as well as to receive the opinions of the virtual audience and the critiques of specialists.

This competition will have its page in ArteUna, where it will be possible to appreciate the works selected by a jury of national prestige to participate in a cultural page of international significance.

Anahi Caceres
Director of arteuna.com
Buenos Aires, Argentina

World's biggest canvas: Curators wanted

From: Aaron Stevenson

Curators are being sought in your city to help co-ordinate a unique community arts project in which 12 cities will unite to paint the world's biggest canvas. Global Images is an arts project utilising the worldwide web to involve as many artists and communities as possible. We are seeking volunteer curators willing to co-ordinate the project in selected cities. Expressions of interest have been received from a variety of countries and are currently being processed.

The event: Artists in each city will simultaneously paint a huge canvas divided into 24 frames. The date for the event is October 2, 1999. Where possible artists will be linked by webcam. The canvas will be erected at a location determined by the curator/s in each city. Artists will each be allocated one hour to complete their frame. If an artists fails to appear for his/her allotted time, that particular frame will remain blank for all time. After the canvases are completed, we will create an online gallery of the works. We also plan to exhibit the collection throughout host cities, beginning in Sydney to coincide with the 2000 Olympic games.

Curators: The success of this project relies on securing committed volunteer curators in each participating city. The curators are responsible for selecting artists and the venue and assisting with local publicity. Curators will receive ongoing back-up and support from the Global-Images co-ordinators.

Interested? To find out more, please visit our web page at www.globalimages.net and register your interest. For more info, contact Aaron Stevenson at fatalimp@netcon.net.au.

Cape Town Month of Photography update

From: Geoff Grundlingh

We have now raised almost R200 000 for the Month of Photography. While this is not a great deal of money, it is enough to enable us to mount a very interesting array of exhibitions. (If you'd like to know how the money will be spent, e-mail me for details.)

I enclose some info from Jenny Altschuler who is curating the live shows and special events. We are hoping that many of you will offer your assistance in some form or another. It would be great to have exhibitions from all around SA and not just the Cape. We would also like technikons, universities, community arts centres, museums and others to participate.

Those of you who have an exhibition to send but don't have a venue, Lien Botha has been negotiating with some very interesting venues including Clarke's Bookshop, Waterfront Charters (boats) Long Street Swimming Baths, SA Library, Skokiaan, Rhodes Memorial, Hout Bay harbour and others. Please call Lien on (021) 4222625 from July 1 or on 082-926-9005.

The final Encounters with Photography conference timetable is available from "Colleen Petersen".

Jenny has got some very interesting ideas lined up but needs your help to make them happen. Please reply directly to Jenny at jenrch@iafrica.com or Dale Yudelman if it's a web-related exhibition matter. Remember that the Month of Photography is just one small component of the Cape Town One City Festival which translates into thousands of visitors and loads of exposure for all participants.

This from Jenny:

1. There will be a film festival at the Labia on photographers, interesting documentary and other movies related to photography. Any suggestions or requests for movies should be sent to Ludi at labia@new.co.za marked "Photofestival".

2. If anyone knows of ex-SA photographers living anywhere in the world, still photographing, please send their e-mail addresses or Urls to Dale Yudelman who will co-ordinate a set of virtual exhibitions on and from the Centre's web page and other links to photographers' web pages for Sep/October. Also for photographers in the Cape, who do not want to exhibit in the 'material world', & those in other cities around S.Africa, this may be the way to link on to the festival. Send any info that you have on the above to daleyboy@iafrica.com marked "Festival virtual exhibitions".

3. The Planetarium and Herschel Mair have agreed to help do an audio-visual of slides by photographers on the theme of "The Sea" which will be set to music and shown daily during the festival in the Planetarium. Photographers are invited to submit portfolios of work to the SA Museum's Planetarium (in slide form) around this theme. The deadline for submission of slides for this project will be August 13, but participation will have to be confirmed by July 31 for inclusion in the catalogue.

4. During the Month of Photography we will have three Monday evenings of 'Live Exhibitions' at the Bio Café - on September 27 and October 4 and 11, all at 8.15pm. This is an invitation to all to show slide bodies of photographic work that you have done on any theme. If you are interested, contact Jenny Altschuler at jenrch@iafrica.com or phone 082-935-5522.

Durban lecture on Australian art

A slide presentation and discussion on the work of contemporary Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Western Australian artists will be given by Nalda Searles at the Durban Art Gallery on July 14. Searles is currently artist-in-residence at the Bat Centre, and is a full-time practising artist with a particular interest in fibre textiles and public art. She has held many workshops and lectures throughout Australia since 1983, and has worked closely with Aboriginal people. In a recent project involving collaboration with Wongutha elders Mary McLean Pantjiti and Dinni Smith, Searles painted words and objects based on Aboriginal languages.

The talk is being organised by the Friends of the Durban Art Gallery,and will be held at the gallery at 7pm on Wednesday, July 14. Entrance is R10 per person. To book, please phone (031) 300-6238.

'Postcards from South Africa'

From: Gary van Wyk

Axis Gallery, located in New York City, plans to hold an exhibition of South African artists during August 1999. Entries are invited from all professional South African artists.

Two museum shows of South African art are being held on the East Coast in the second half of 1999 - one at the Museum for African Art in Manhattan and the other at the Smithsonian National Museum for African Art in Washington, DC. These shows focus on a limited number of artists. Axis Gallery aims to provide a counterpoint by providing a broader view, and offering all artists the opportunity to enter. Axis anticipates that this exhibition will be of considerable interest to New York critics, such as Holland Cotter of the New York Times, who recently positioned Axis Gallery as among the top 20 galleries in the burgeoning Chelsea art scene, which presently numbers more than 100 galleries.

Axis Gallery, entering its third year, initially specialised in African art from southern Africa. This focus broadened to include contemporary South African art, beginning with works on paper by Sam Nhlengethwa, William Kentridge, and others. This expansion reflected the interests of Axis Gallery's director, Lisa Brittan, and curator, Gary van Wyk, who both trained as artists at Wits. Both have a sustained interest in contemporary South African art, and feel that South African art deserves more comprehensive and informed representation than it has typically enjoyed in the United States to date.

After the exhibition closes at Axis at the end of August, it will be installed at the South African Consulate, where it will be opened on September 9 1999 by Consul General Thami Ngwevela, and remain on view through Heritage Day. The closing date in September is still to be confirmed.

Guidelines are as follows:

Entering: The following are eligible: established artists, artists who have completed a formal art degree or diploma, and artists who have participated at a recognized Community Art Centre for three years or more.

Theme: The theme is conveyed by the title, and is open to interpretation. The show aims to represent a wide range of art, and in a sense to represent South Africa. Artists might, for example, view their postcards as messages to America, or focus on the significance of this forthcoming Heritage Day, the last of this millennium.

Format: Postcard-sized works (either 145mm X 110mm or 250mm X 176mm). Artists may submit as many as five works.

Sending work: Artists may choose to send works through any method acceptable to the South Africa Post Office (postcard, oversize postcard, envelope, registered, etc.) or to employ such other methods of getting the work to Axis as international courier service (DHL, FedEx, insured art shippers, etc).

Return of work: Artists may elect whether to have unsold works returned to them by Axis or for Axis to keep the unsold works in a portfolio in order to represent their work in New York. On your entry form, state either "Return" or "Keep". If artists elect to have work returned, Axis Gallery will return them by the same method they were received.

Pricing and gallery commission: Axis suggests a selling price of $99,99 as a guide. This echoes the date of the consular opening (9/9/99), and makes the works affordable to a wide range of potential clients. Artists may, however, choose to price their work higher. Axis takes a 50% commission of the selling price, which is standard in New York. Income from sales will be mailed to your return address at the end of September 1999.

Submission dates/deadline: Axis is prepared to accept submissions immediately. The invitation and other publicity will be based on works received early. The deadline is Monday, July 19. Extensions will be considered if special circumstances apply.

Application form: The following details should accompany the work or, if it is sent through the regular mail as a postcard, be submitted separately: artist's name, return address, telephone, fax, e-mail, number of works submitted, unsold works - return or keep, and (for each work submitted) title, medium, date, price if more than $100, and description to identify work.

All works to arrive at Axis Gallery, 453 West 17th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011, USA, no later than Monday, July 19 1999.

If you have other questions, please contact Bernd Ebert, Gary van Wyk or Lisa Brittan at Axis Gallery, e-mail LBrittan@aol.com, or refer inquiries to Lorna Ferguson (011 880-5185) or Estelle Jacobs at the Association for Visual Arts (021 854-3461).

New Signatures closing dates

With the Absa Atelier and Kempton Park awards now recent history, the Sasol New Signatures Competition promises to fill the gap while we all hold our breath for the announcement of the winner of the FNB Vita Art Prize. Closing dates for submissions are August 10 and 11, and entry forms are available from most galleries or directly from the SA Association of Arts in Pretoria. Nandi Hilliard can give you more information. Phone (012) 346-3100.