“Maybe the greatest yearning of South Africans is to find a canvas on which to express themselves,” commented Premier of the Western Cape, Ebrahim Rasool, opening the Spier Contemporary 2007 exhibition.
“It is through exhibitions like this that we become a country that is grappling with its soul, rather than a country of one dimensional theme parks”, he said.
And the 120 artworks chosen from the over 2,137 works submitted, are certainly giving us insights into who we are and what we are in ways that are sometimes soothing, sometimes shocking and always insightful.
The artworks cover an astonishing range of media, from the static solidity of sculpture to the fluid motions of performance, from the most fragile of installations to videos that demand to be heard.
The diversity of the works is perhaps a reflection of the open nature of the competition. There was no theme prescribed, allowing the artists complete freedom of expression. The only requirement was that the artists should be permanently residing in South Africa.
“Art plays a significant role in the transformation of our country,” commented Yvonne Johnston, CEO of the International Marketing Council. “Exhibitions like this break down barriers and create linkages between us in the unique mix that is South Africa”.
Choosing the 92 finalists was no easy task for the six-strong selection team, Virginia MacKenny, an award-winning artist and senior lecturer at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town; Thembinkosi Goniwe, an art lecturer at the Division of Visual Arts at the Wits School of Arts and the Spier Contemporary team of Clive van den Berg (Curator of the exhibition), Jay Pather (Co-curator), Churchill Madikida (Outreach Officer) and Kadiatou Diallo (Project Manager).
The team travelled to centres around the country, including Johannesburg, East London, Port Elizabeth, Umtata, Durban, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Giyani, Potchefstroom and Barberton for the unenviable task of selecting the works.
Six award winners were selected by a diverse team of judges which included: N’gone Fall, a Senegalese art curator, art publisher and consultant in cultural policies; Predrag Pajdic, a Yugoslavian London-based interdisciplinary artist, art historian and curator, and Clive Kellner, a South African artist, curator, critic and Director of the Johannesburg Art Gallery.
Interestingly, and in spite of the high quality of work submitted, no paintings, drawings or sculpture were selected by the judges for awards, or the three works which received honourable mention. Of the six awards, one was a photograph, two were video pieces and three were performance pieces.
Spier Contemporary 2007 curator, Clive van den Berg, was very happy with the judges' selection. “It doesn't matter what the medium is,” he said. “The judges selected a fresh, young and exciting collection. Any group of judges is going to have its own dynamic, and I am pleased that they found the performance and video work interesting, especially as both mediums have been neglected in this country in the past”.
The six winners are:
• Abrie Fourie for his photographic works: Beverley Hills, Sunnyside, Pretoria 2007 and Changing Room, Hillcrest Swimming Pool, Pretoria 2007;
• Chuma Sopotela, Mwenya Kabwe and Kemang WaLehulere for their performance U nyamo alunampumlo (The foot has no nose), a work that explores African urban centres, through a hybrid of theatrical forms including live-feed video projection, living installations and live performance work;
• Bettina Malcomess, Rene Holleman and Linda Stupart for their performance Doing it for Daddy, a walking tour of the Spier Estate which reimages real and fictional histories;
• Nina Barnett and Robyn Nesbitt for their video Warcry, a challenging and thrilling look at the war cries of two Johannesburg schools;
• Andrew Putter for Secretly I will love you more, a haunting video installation based on three paintings in the Castle of Good Hope in which the portrait of Maria van Riebeek sings a Khoi Khoi lovesong-lullaby, celebrating her love for Krotoa, her adopted Khoi Khoi daughter; and
• Peter van Heerden for his performance Die Uitlander, the African and the Vrouw, which looks at the patriotism, dedication and resolve of African women.
Receiving special mention were: Tegan Bristow for her video Chalk Vision; Bongani Joseph Khoza for his video On Trains with Bongani; and Kai Losgott and Anthea Moys for their video Unsaid.
There is one more award still to be made. This is the People’s Choice Award.
Anyone visiting the exhibition can vote for their favorite artwork. On 20 February 2008 when the exhibition will close on the Spier Estate, the final winner will be announced. The seven award winners will share the prize money of R700,000. All the prizes will be some type of self study, residency programme or another which promotes or progresses the artist’s career.
Captions
Photo 1: Adrian Enthoven, CEO of Spier Holdings, speaks at the opening of the Spier Contemporary 2007 Art Exhibition, at Spier Estate, Stellenbosch, on December 12, 2007. Premier of the Western Cape, Ebrahim Rasool, thanked Enthoven for Spier's contribution to "reminding us what we are" as South Africans. "We are greatly in your debt, Rasool said.
Photo 2: Spier Contemporary curator, Clive van den Berg, speaks at the opening of the Spier Contemporary 2007 Art Exhibition.
Photo 3: Kemang WaLehulere (left) with collaborator Mwenya Kabwe and judge Predrag Pajdic after they were declared as one for the winners of the Spier Contemporary 2007. Their performance with Chuma Sopotela, called U nyamo alunampumlo (The foot has no nose), is with a work that explores African urban centres, through a hybrid of theatrical forms including live-feed video projection, living installations and live performance work.
Photo 4: From left, Chuma Sopotela, Robyn Nesbitt and Mwenya Kabwe, among the winners of the Spier Contemporary 2007.