Feedback is an open forum for readers to share
any comments and insights relevant to art practice in South Africa.
We reserve the right to edit all submissions.
Due to a malfunctioning mailbox, our change of editorship and my vacation we have not been too good at corresponding with our readers. We have done our best to attend to all the mail and requests we have received over the last few months and here is a small selection of what came in.
Paul Edmunds, Feedback Editor
From: Evie Franzidis
Received: May 3
Subject: Sophie Peters review
Hi there
I've been looking for past reviews on your website and can't seem to access one in particular that I'd like to have a look at, perhaps you can help me. It's on Sophie Peters at the Chelsea Gallery back in August 2000. I'm actually on a mission to find out any info I can on Sophie Peters, so if you know where I can find any more (I have had rather fruitless searches on the internet quite a number of times), that would be great.
I will check up why you can't access that review. I also suggest you look in 10 Years 100 Artists published by Bell-Roberts last year.
From: Anastasya
Received: April 30
Subject: Updates
I am an artist from Johannesburg. I visit your site regularly, as it's the most comprehensive and all-encompassing resource for the modern art world.
The site is great and a pleasure to visit. It's brilliantly put together, well written etc. I do however have a slight bit of negative feedback. It has come to my attention that the site is not being updated very regularly. Last time I went on (it was last week, or perhaps the week before) all of the listed events were a month old. I went on again today to find a whole list of new exhibitions I had not seen before - most already started or finished. This has happened many times.
I understand that it's difficult to run an information bank of this calibre, it must be a hell of a job. It's just concerning as I feel - and many people share my sentiments - this is a very important website to have. It is the only central art resource we have, and I believe could be an even more successful one with more regular updates.
Otherwise - thanks for all the great work.
That sounds like a combination of some glitches we experienced with our change of editorship and your full internet caches. Sometimes our info regarding exhibitions is a little out of date due to the incomprehensible difficulties of extracting details from galleries. In spite of this the site is updated monthly without fail. Thanks for your feedback.
From: Delinda Collier
Received: May 2
Subject: Luanda Triennial
Hi there,
I'm wondering if anyone has information about whether the Luanda Triennial set for Nov - Dec of this year is still on. I'm seeing in some places that it is now set for 2006.
The information I have, which was true of June 2005, says the Triennial is still set for November 2005.
From: Khwezi Gule
Received: February 11
Subject: Feni retrospective
Dear Ms Editor
I tried to send this feedback via the link on the site but I encountered a dead end, so I opted for this route.
This submission regards the review of the Dumile Feni Retrospective exhibition currently on at the Johannesburg Art Gallery. But as a way of introducing the subject and to illustrate the point, I will refer to a lecture by Prof. Achille Mbembe and Prof. Lewis Nkosi, which I attended on Thursday February 10 at Wits.
One of the themes that emerged was the proposition that a number of South African writers (novelists and playwrights) tend to sacrifice aesthetics for journalism, which is evident in the writings of such luminaries of SA literature as Todd Matshikiza, Zakes Mda and others. Understandably the politics of South Africa by necessity, even after the demise of Apartheid, has been the major focal point for much of our creative output. Dumile Feni was not immune to this impulse. As such, references to his politics in the Artthrob review are not only relevant but indispensable.
However, absolutely no mention is made of his work. His chosen media, his use of line, tone, texture, scale, its evolution over the decades, the influence of filmmaking on his art or even the surrealist influences in his work.
For an artist who is on par with the best the world has ever seen, it is disappointing that there is more attention to the politics of his work than the power of his visual expression.
My reference to literature then was a way of illustrating the magnitude of this politicising impulse in our writing and even in our art criticism. And I don't think this is about to change. There is still a lot of politics to contend with but as a viewer I am not only interested in the theory but also in the practice. At the very least there should be some attention paid to these and other dimensions of art making. Furthermore, the responsibility rests on both critic and editor to ensure that art reviews are informative, analytical and thought-provoking.
Firstly, you will see that the technical problem you encountered is now sorted out. Secondly, thanks for your contribution which is just the sort of dialogue a forum like this encourages.
From: Celina Ferreira
Received: August 2
Subject: Restoring damaged artwork
I am writing on behalf of Hannes, who owns Deco Lodge in Woodstock. They recently had a fire and some works of art have been damaged by smoke. Is there anyone you may recommend to help restore these original pieces.
Thanking you on Hannes' behalf.
I suggest you contact the South African National Gallery who will be able to advise you on an appropriate conservator or restoration specialist.
