KWV Sensorium Launch

Friday, 12 October, 2012
KWV
For more than 50 years, KWV has collected a portfolio of artworks by some of South Africa's greatest artists, and for the first time ever this beautiful collection will be opened to public viewing at the brand new KWV Sensorium.
The collection consists of approximately 100 paintings, wood carvings and drawings and includes works by Gregoire Boonzaier, Irma Stern, Jacob Hendrik Pierneef and Piet van Heerden.

The purpose of the Sensorium space is three-fold: to open up KWV’s art collection and archive to the public, to tell the “KWV story” through its art and heritage, and also to act as a platform for a new approach to understanding art and wine through the unique concept of “art and wine pairing”. For many people, engaging with the disciplines of art and wine is often fraught with confusing tasting notes and academic explanations – hence the idea to complement the experience of tasting a wine with that of viewing an artwork, and utilising interactive technologies to allow the viewer to make sense of both what they taste and what they see on their own terms.

The accompanying KWV Sensorium digital platform (www.kwvsensorium.com) will allow our visitors to interact with our collection in a richer way, and provides a tactile element to the experience, as they scan the QR code on each artwork label to give them access to more information about the artwork and its pairing. The KWV Sensorium social media pages will be used to generate conversations with our visitors about their experiences and to publish their opinions about the pairings.

The KWV Sensorium opened to the public on 21 September 2012 and is located at KWV’s headquarters - La Concorde, 57 Main Road, Paarl.

Visitors will be able to view the art collection, immerse themselves in an “art and wine pairing experience”, and also enjoy a tasting or glass of several of KWV’s award winning wines and brandies.

A programme of unique cultural events will be launched soon - with a focus on branching out the pairing concept to involve other art forms such as music, literature and design.

Opening hours will be Monday to Friday 09h00 - 16h30, Saturdays 09h00 until 14h00. Closed Sundays and public holidays.

Click HERE for a sneak preview of the Sensorium gallery.