Four architects were
involved in the
design of the virtual
museum, MUVA

MUVA Virtual Museum of Arts El Pais

What do you do when you're a country that desperately needs a museum but has only a tiny budget? The designers of MUVA, the Virtual Museum of Arts El Pais, devoted to Uruguayan and Latin American art, solved the problem by creating a museum that exists only online. They have simulated as far as possible the actual experience of visiting a museum, with an architect-designed space. The visitor can actually walk inside the museum, take the elevator and view a complete collection of especially photographed artworks. There are accompanying catalogue texts, and even a director, art historian Alicia Haber. Ongoing exhibitions are planned.

MUVA is the biggest website in Uruguay and one of the most important in Latin America, and won an international Best of the Web Award for a Virtual Exhibit.

The Masianoke Gallery

On a very much smaller scale, if you wish to know what's happening art-wise in the tiny landlocked country of Lesotho, now that we've stopped shooting up the locals, you can check out the virtual gallery of Masianoke, which features artists living and working in Lesotho.

Artnet

A New York-based website which is one of the best and the biggest, constantly updating current information on exhibitions, and offering excellent reviews and magazine coverage.

Africaserver

Focusing on an interchange of material about Africa, this fresh-looking Dutch-based site has a particular emphasis on the arts and culture of this continent, and searches for new virtual exhibitions to host online.

Sensorium

A site of truly wondrous projects. Breathing Earth, for instance, is a visualisation of earthquakes that have happened worldwide in the past 14 days. A globe with a map of the world comes into view, and on each of the 14 dates, swellings bubble up indicating the location of the seismic activities. Other projects involve the number of kilometres the world has swung round the sun while you have been busy on the website, and the sounds of the web itself.

Plexus

One of the best - great artist projects, articles, news.

Stadiumweb

Intriguing initiatives especially designed for the web from a variety of artists. All of them are worth checking out.

Universes in Universe

This site initiated the "Cultural Exchange via Internet" described in News this month. Focus on information and news on the arts of African, the Americas and Asia/Pacific. Includes an admirable report by Sabine Vogel on the 3rd Dak'Art Biennial, Senegal, held in April this year. And peruse this page for lists of art opportunities and projects. All kinds of info you won't easily find elsewhere.

Other locally-related links

Cape Town Museums Online
The new website for all of Cape Town's museums - an easy way for potential visitors to decide exactly how to spend their time. One of the most striking features on the South African National Gallery page is a 360 degree view of Jane Alexander's Butcher Boys, the gallery's best-known and most popular piece.

Bringing Up Baby
This is the website of the 'Bringing Up Baby' exhibition, currently on at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg. Photographs of all the work on the show, plus catalogue material.

http://www.mg.co.za/mg/art/fineart/ fr-fineart_listings.htm
Luckily you can click through to the mega address of the Electronic Mail & Guardian's fine arts page, or you might pass up this extremely useful and concise listing of all the current visual art activity across the country.

http://www.artslink.co.za
Winner of the Arts and Culture Trust Award for best electronic media, when this fledgling site fulfils its aim of providing a comprehensive resource on all aspects of culture in the country, it will be truly valuable. The visual arts side needs serious attention. In the meantime, there's lots of info, particularly on the performing arts, and many connections to be made.

http://www.onepeople.com
An online road trip by Paul and Charity, recently in South Africa, in which they meet artists of many persuasions, interview them and record their work.

http://www.goodman-gallery.com/
Johannesburg's top gallery has recently revamped its site, making access to its information on many of the country's top artists more accessible

http://www.artsafari.com
Cape Town's new-on-the-scene Lipschitz Gallery with news of recent exhibitions. The gallery will arrange tours of local artists' studios for visitors.