36 original artworks must go in 30 days
PARKHURST – Art auction to benefit South Africa’s emerging raw talent.
The Art Room in Parkhurst will be hosting an InterProv Arts Exchange Fundraising Auction.
The auction, which will run as a written-bid auction for a period of 30 days, will consist of a group of 36 original artworks by stellar artists including Gordon Froud, Bambo Sibiya, Senzo Shabangu, Lehglogonolo Mashaba, Asanda Kupa and Themba Khumalo, among others. These works of art will be auctioned off to raise funds for an exciting arts exchange programme.
The launch of the exhibition-style auction will take place on 9 April, 12 noon at The Art Room, Santos Centre, Cnr 4th Avenue and 7th Street, Parkhurst. The auction will be officially opened by Gordon Froud, internationally-renowned artist, educator and curator. A Capital Arts Revolution sound collaboration will also take place, featuring Sibusile Xaba and poet, Tselane Mashilo.
Simonetta Bravi, owner of The Art Room, a gallery and framing company specialising in archival framing, said, “The Art Room has a passion for South African art and is committed to promoting local talent. When Lekau Matsena and Lerato Themba Kuzwayo approached us to assist with fundraising for their collaborative venture, the InterProv Arts Exchange, we were immediately sold on the idea.
“It provides us with the perfect opportunity to not only collaborate with a group of artists that we deeply admire, but also to support the unknown and raw creative talent coming out of Gauteng and Limpopo provinces. A very exciting prospect!”
For Matsena and Kuzwayo, both highly-visible artists on the local art scene, the idea of an inter-provincial arts exchange grew out of the ongoing need for funding of the arts.
Matsena said, “Despite a handful of prominent initiatives that showcase local talent, both the private and public sectors seldom invest deeply in sustaining the arts. This is probably due to the fact that, compared to other areas, art produces few tangible economic outputs. This means that we need to make art a viable option, in an economic sense. And we also need to actively create our own channels for supporting the development of artists and art communities.”
Through the InterProv Arts Exchange, Matsena and Kuzwayo aim to do both; not only gathering master trainers to ensure the fine-tuning of creative-making processes but to include creative industry workshops that will explore how skills in art-making might contribute to creating viable and sustainable forms of economic growth.
The exchange will run from May this year for a 10-month period. The pilot programme will include a selection of 12 young artists, six from Gauteng and six from Limpopo provinces, and will provide them with the opportunity not only to learn but to share their cultural, geographical and ‘lived’ experience of art creation with one another.
It is anticipated that artworks developed during the exchange (which will total around 72 works) will be presented to the public in a travelling exhibition hosted at key spaces in both provinces.
