After two years of planning, a nationwide call for entry, an exhaustive curatorial tour, and the spectacular transformation of its exhibition space, the Cape Town City Hall, the Spier Contemporary 2010 opened on 14 March.
Presented by the Africa Centre (www.africacentre.net), the Spier Contemporary Art Exhibition is showcasing the work of 101 artists from across South Africa.
The winners of the Spier Contemporary 2010 competition were announced at the launch of the exhibition which was addressed by Cape Town Partnership CE Andrew Boraine. The prizes awarded consist of a combination of five cash prizes, worth R500 000 in total, and seven international artist-in-residency prizes made by the invidivual residency programmes. Additionally, a “People’s Choice” Award, based on votes by those visiting the exhibition, will be given at the end of the Cape Town leg of the exhibition.
“If contemporary art is defined as ‘art that is created now’, then the Spier Contemporary is the visual and aural barometer of what it is like to live in South Africa in 2010,” the organisers said in a press statement.
“ Comprising 132 artworks from 101 artists, distilled from over 2,700 national submissions, the artists have contemplated and exposed every element of the South African condition: our fears, our joys, our humour and our trepidations. It speaks to the past, and imagines the future. It serves up a plethora of views and challenges us to think differently. It gives us a poetic, private moment with our world.”
The themes in the exhibition range from the struggle for identity to a lack of faith in our leadership, from meditations on urbanisation to revisiting memories. “There is irony, humour, self-reflection and cultural play. “The Spier Contemporary is the largest biennale of South African art staged in the country. The exhibition features artists who work across the diversity of media, including sculpture, painting, photography, installation, video and performance art.
The City Hall was chosen for this year’s exhibition to make it accessible to all. Admission to the exhibition is free and it is open seven days a week from 10am till 6pm (public holidays included).
More than 3,500 school learners are expected to view the exhibition..
The Spier Contemporary 2010 also houses a pop-up café by Rotisserie 360 that will serve light meals and has a fully licensed bar. The Fringe Arts Shop will sell the Spier Contemporary artworks and catalogue. It will also sell other functional art.
Many exciting events have been planned for the two month duration of the exhibition until 14 May 2010. Accompanying the formal weekly artist’s walkabouts are debates and discussions, open mic sessions, poetry readings, wine tasting, live music sessions (both classical and contemporary), Creative Cape Town meetings, radio workshops, and public and private functions. See www.spiercontemporary.co.za for details.
Click here, to view more photos of the event.
