The visual arts environment in Cape Town is active despite the recession it appears, if the various initiatives going around the central city are anything to go by. Not that the recession hasnt hit the pocket, some people just seem to be working smarter and harder.
Last month we saw The Spring Art Tour taking place in the city centre. Organised by Artlogic a Joburg based concern who organizes the Joburg Art Fair – an event aimed at stimulating business in the visual arts scene in South Africa – the Art Tour adds value to galleries around the country. Spring Art tours took place in the two main visual arts business centres – Joburg and Cape Town. Over the three days, gallery routes took place in different areas such as the central city and Woodstock. At each gallery Grolsch, a new entrant in the beer market, provided free beers which attracted and retained many of the art enthusiasts. Restaurants and bars nearby provided special menus. The atmosphere was great and the event slickly managed with great coverage in Wanted Magazine and with a number of high level sponsors. Congrads to what is hoped to be an annual event that can add to revitalizing the city during the evenings. The only gripe was that the event was poorly marketed and many including ourselves found out about it for the first time on the day. Nevertheless the regulars to various galleries who had openings that night were able to capitalize on their evening out when they found out other venues were also open each with something new to offer.
Opening in its new venue during the Art Tour was Blank Projects 113-115 Sir Lowrys Road whose venue will literally be built with each successive exhibition. Blank is in what has been called the gallery district. The opening of Goodman Gallery Cape (a successful internationally recognised gallery from Joburg) in the area caused a stir and pretty soon a number of other galleries had moved to an area that promised grit as well as cheaper rentals. Amongst these was another internationally significant gallery Michael Stevenson Gallery whose exhibitions are legendary and who boasts an impressive stable of artists as well as a more edgier gallery catering for young artists, WhatiftheWorld Gallery.
The Bell Roberts Gallery who also moved to the gallery district, closed last month, and is sadly missed. After more than six years in operation, the gallery began struggling after moving to the quarter in Woodstock from Bree Street. The move may have reduced its rentals but lost it valuable foot traffic, and was also hit by the recession. Thankfully its publications arm, which publishes Art South Africa and the Creative Cape Town Annual, continues.
Recent changes in the art world in Cape Town include a new head for the important SA National Gallery based in the central city. Riason Naidoo take the position of Director of Arts Collections at Iziko Museums – filling the very big shoes of Marilyn Martin who retired last year. He is an artist and curator who has been involved in various projects – more recently, the Mali Project: Timbuktu Manuscripts for the Presidency and the Department of Arts & Culture.
Greatmore Studios is an important visual arts residency in the city aimed at providing spaces for artists in a diverse environment. Its current director, Kate Tarratt-Cross, started early this year and is continuing the great work of the organization. It is worth getting onto the mailing list for its regular newsletter TAG. It was one of the first institutions to base itself in Woodstock.
VANSA Western Cape the Provincial Government of Western Cape supported body to promote the visual arts industry also appointed a new director this year – Peter Hayes is a performer and restaurateur. The organization has a project space at its offices in Spin Street, it focuses its work largely on artists who have been historically disadvantaged and has been working with the city on public art initiatives. VANSA shares its space with the CAPE AFRICA Platform who run a regular visual arts biennale – it held its second event this year and produced a number of new young curators in the process, not without significant funding related dramas. Another major event which will be based in a central city venue next year is the Spier Contemporary – which built on the success of the Brett Kebble Awards. The Spier Contemporary is managed by the Africa Centre, based in the central city since last year.
Sadly the city lost the Arts and Media Access Centre (AMAC) last year. This was a significant educational institution training artists from historically disadvantaged areas and was a new institution formed with the merger of the long running (since 1977) Community Arts Project and MediaWorks.
During last years survey of the city centre by Creative Cape Town of the creative economy, the visual arts sector proved to be one of the bigger sectors mapped. We counted 42 galleriesand 27 others(agencies, working studios, shops and more) who regard themselves as visual arts orientated, 8 educational institutions with strong visual arts training programmes, 4 collective artists studios/ residencies (but recognise there are many more homebased studios around the city centre), 4 art collections/museums, 4 publishing orientated initiatives with a significant focus on visual arts, 8 institutions/non-profits that service/respond to the sector in different ways, as well as 2 major visual arts events functioning from the central city.
