ECHO Craft Bazaar 2007
VIP opening on 22 November
Open to the public every day from Friday 23 November to Sunday 2 December from 10:00 am to 18:00 pm6
ECHO Craft Bazaar 2007
The Tatham Art Gallery would like to remind all crafts people about the Echo Craft bazaar, a craft market which has taken place annually at the Tatham Art Gallery for the past 11. years.
The Tatham Art Gallery will be hosting the Bazaar for the last time this year. Although the Gallery will no longer be involved, the bazaar is going to continue under the auspices of The Witness.
Crafters should start now rather than later to make craft products for the bazaar. It takes time to modify and improve craft to ensure that it is of good quality. The Echo Craft Bazaar will continue to set high standards on the craft accepted for the Bazaar.
Entries to this year's Bazaar should be brought to the old Church building in the grounds of Tatham Art Gallery from Sunday 4, 5 and 6 November between 10 am and 4 pm.
Time to get crafty!
If you make high quality, original craft work, get ready to submit your work for selection for the Echo Craft Bazaar. This is an annual sale of the best craft of KwaZulu-Natal, held in the Tatham Art Gallery. Submissions and selection of craft will take place on November 4, 5 and 6, from 10 am to 4 pm. Bring your work to the main gallery inside the Tatham Art Gallery. Decide before on the price you want for each item, but do not label them. The Gallery will add 20% commission to your price.
Need help deciding what to submit? The selectors will look for high quality work that is beautifully made. They also want unusual items that show the makers' creativity. You should not re-submit items that did not sell well at last year's sale.
The Echo Craft Bazaar will take place from Friday 23 November to Sunday 2 December. For more information about submitting work for sale, contact Phumzile Sithole or S'bahle Khanyile on 033-392 2801.
White boys on death, war and love
Main Gallery
4 October to 1 November
and 14 December to January 2008
Contemporary South African Art from the Tatham Art Gallery collection
This exhibition features works from the Tatham Art Gallery collection dating from the 1980s and 1990s; using Andries Bothas South African Elegy as a starting point.
While an elegy is normally associated with a poem of lamentation or regret, usually interpreted as meaning a mournful or funeral song, the original Greek term might have been more broadly applied. When the elegy appears in surviving Greek literature, it is dedicated, not to death, but to war and love.
This exhibition features works that entered the Tatham Art Gallery collection in the 1980s and 1990s; using Andries Bothas South African Elegy (In the centre of the room) as a starting point.
While an elegy is normally associated with a poem of lamentation or regret, usually interpreted as meaning a mournful or funeral song, the original Greek term might have been more broadly applied. When the elegy appears in surviving Greek literature, it is dedicated, not to death, but to war and love.
Using the themes of death, war and love, a selection of works are brought into relationship with each other in this exhibition. These relationships highlight the way in which these, at the time promising white male artists, grappled with their place in a South African context.
The title:
The main title, White Boys are deliberately chosen as tongue in cheek. I know none of these boys can be referred to as juveniles. It is an inversion of the Apartheid terminology where any black man, regardless of age, was called a boy. Thus a white boy is any white man regardless of age.
The motivation for this current selection is from my own observation on the tendencies of curatorship and exhibitions. Despite the anomaly of the ABSA lAtelier winners, all being white, the focus of most exhibitions and collection policies has achieved their BEE targets. Black men, black women and white women are adequately represented in the Jabulisa 2006 exhibition as an example. With this exhibition I want to draw the pendulum back into white colonial patriarchy to see how far it can swing back into the other side of the cultural spectrum.
Gerhi Janse van Vuuren
Education Officer
Exhibition Summary:
20 works by 17 artists, 10 works from each decade
Artists and works included:
1980s
Andries Botha South African Elegy (875/87)
Norman Catherine Counter Clockwise (862/87)
Guy du Toit Dethroned Kragvark with Hares (1234/89)
Bruce Arnott Widow Bird (654/80)
Peter Schutz A Midlands Farm (1233/89)
Stanley Pinker Gwah! (772/84)
William Kentridge Who will feed them now (803/85)
Hillary Graham Bush Incident (1081/88)
John Morley Metal Box and Fossils (1854/87)
Michael Hallier Omen (1083/88)
1990s
Paul Edmunds Resound (1786/96)
Jaap Jacobs Gwap en Gwar (1918/94)
Michael Matthews Utopia is our Back Garden (1667/93)
Jeremy Wafer Three Standing Tanks (1646/93)
Barend de Wet Yours (1691/93)
Roy Starke Labyrinth of Solitude (2016/99)
Gavin Anderson (Songofthe)dreamfactorylacquerwomen (1793/96)
Hillary Graham Amongs the Blooms (1649/93)
Hillary Graham An Evening Gathering (1650/93)
Andries Botha Herinneringe aan Barend Strydom se Atome en ander Helde (1585/92)
Reuben Ndwandwe (1943 to 2007) Memorial exhibition
The Schreiner Gallery
September to 18 November 2007
This exhibition of basketry is a celebration of Reuben Ndwandwe's work and legacy and is organised in collaboration with Gilbert Torlage from Provincial Museum Services.
Reuben Ndwandwe (1943 to 2007) was a well known basket weaver, living in the Hlabisa district, Zululand. He produced his own unique designs and dyed his own materials for weaving. In 2004 he was the African Art Centre's 'Artist of the Year'.
Each item of basketry Reuben produced was unique. His designs came from his own imagination. Reuben was also greatly influenced by his mentor and spiritual guide, Isaiah Shembe.
Reuben Ndwandwe's basketry has a foundation in the traditional Zulu basketry. These baskets were so tightly woven that they were waterproof. Ndwandwe's baskets have trancended utilitarian purposes and are widely regarded as art objects.
Reuben was represented in the recent Jabulisa 2006: the art and craft of KwaZulu-Natal exhibition (cat. 127) with a basket from the collection of the Vukani Museum, Eshowe. This basket displayed Reuben's 'signature' of edging the lids of baskets with a cross and bar pattern. Reuben was involved in running an ongoing weaving training course with a number of women in his area. He died unexpectedly in June this year.
Umbukiso oyisikhumbuzo ngemisebenzi ka Reuben Ndwandwe (1943-2007)
Lombukiso uveza iqhaza lika Reuben Ndwandwe emisebenzini wezandla.Lombukiso uhlanganiswe ngokubambisana no Gilbert Torlage wezokugcinwa kwamaGugu kulesisifundazwe (KZN Provincial Museum Services). U-Reuben Ndwandwe (1943-2007),wakwa Hlabisa wazakhela ugazi ngomsebenzi wakhe wezandla nangendlela abewenza ngayo okuhlanganisa nendlela afaka ngayo imibala kwezakhe izimbenge.
Ngonyaka ka-2004 wakonyeliswa ngokuba "Iciko lonyaka" abase African Art Centre. Umsebenzi ngamunye Ka-Reuben Ndwandwe uhlukile komunye,ngisho nemihlobiso yakhe azicabangela yona ayefani. UReuben Ndwandwe uthi ekwenzeni imisebenzi yakhe wayethola ugqozi kwizimfundiso zebandla lakwa Shembe ayekhonza kulona.Obhasikidi bakhe bagxile osikweni lwesiZulu lokwenza ubhasikidi ongaputshuki amanzi/utshawala.Kepha laba sebe dlule kulelozinga njengoba sebesetshenziselwa ukuhlobisa kunophatha amanzi/utshwala.Kuhlelo lombukiso obizwa nge Jabulisa ka2006 ubukhona omunye walabo bhasikidi ogciniwe njengamanje yindawo yamagugu iVukani,eShowe.
Kuwona sibona kahle okwenza obhasikidi bakhe bahluke eningini; yisidikiselo sakhe esihlotshiswa ngesiphambano nomgonqo. U-Reuben ubambe elikhulu iqhaza ekufundiseni umphakathi wangakubo ekwenzeni umsebenzi wezandla.Usishiye ngokukhulu ukuzuma kulonyaka ngoJuni.
Mandalas, Memories and Magic Circles
Jutta Faulds
The Schreiner Gallery
25 November 2007 to January 2008
Mandalas, Memories and Magic Circles' displays the personal explorations of the local well known fibre artist Jutta Faulds. Jutta was born in Germany but has lived in Africa for many years. Her works draw on mixed European, African and Indian backgrounds. Jutta attempts a visit of India every couple of years.
"The circle has been a recurring theme in my work for a long time. Indeed, the circle occurs in nature as well as man made objects in abaundance; it is always with us. Mandalas take this symbol further and make it the central focus on which to build thoughts, intended to calm the mind in a meditative or contemplative way. Regarding religious beliefs the mandala is non-specific. Mandalas can be found in Christian images as well as other major religious movements. The Sanscrit word 'mandala' means 'circle' and symbolises wholeness. In Christian symbolism the circle refers to the 'divine', or 'eternity'.
Making art can be a meditative process, and I have approached mandala making in that way; these mandalas are intuitive rather than intellectual or analytical, though I hope they reach out beyond the self indulgence and allow the viewer his/her own room for contemplation and response.
Making meaningful mandalas is not skill related. Being over concerned with applying skills and looking for perfection ('resolution' in art-speak) could get in the way of thoughts wanting to be freed. Rather, it is about gaining insights which inform the next step we take. It is about reflection, as well as focus and discipline.
It is about involvement.
N.B. mandalas, though they may symbolise eternity do NOT have to be permanent in themselves.
I am a fibre artist and thus use mostly 'fibrous' materials, using the term widely. Similarly techniques tend to include textile related ones like stitching, more than others. My mandalas reflect this approach, and gave me scope to explore some of these processes more fully, all of which have their own meditative powers. After a couple of tentative attempts at mandala making in a workshop given by Kobie Venter, I launched into the work 'a mandala a day...' which is a collection of very personal introspective works on Indian hand made paper.
My current work concentrates on the never-ending creative (and therapeutic) potential of hand-made felt, working on a very small scale. I enjoy mixing media, so there is bound to be some overlap in the categories I have listed. My work often includes found materials, including waste of all kinds, organic or man-made, sometimes humble, sometimes precious: it allows things a second chance, another voice, and in some cases delays the evil day when they get returned into the eco system.
Better to take them out of circulation if only for a time. And in the spirit of the mandala: it allows contemplation and soul searching."
Jutta Faulds
I Mandalas Memories and Magic Cicles
"I- Mandala,Memories and Magic Circles iveza imizwa yaleliciko elisebenza kakhulu ngendwangu nendlela elibuka ngayo lizizwe ngayo.U-Jutta Faulds ongowokuzalwa e-Germany kepha osehlale isikhathi esiningi kuleli lase- Afrika. Imisebenzi yakhe isuselwe ezizweni eziningi kusukela e-Europe, Afrika nase Ndiya.UJutta uvamile ukuvakashela ezweni lase Ndiya njalo emuva kweminyakana embalwa.
Uwuchaza kanje umsebenzi wakhe: Indilingi iyisimo ebesesivame ukuvela kakhulu emsebenzini wami nakwindalo.
I -Mandalas, iyaluqhubeza loluphawu ilwenze libe ilo esigxilisa kulo imicabango yethu ngokujulile. Ngokwezenkolo i-Mandala ayiqondakali, iyisimo esitholakalayo ezinkolweni ezahlukene ngisho nakwi -nkolo yobu Kristu.
Igama le-Sancrist , liyichaza njengendilinga ewuphawu lwento 'ephelele' 'nengcwele'. Ukwenza umsebenzi wezandla kungaba ukuziphumuza, yiyona ndlela engiyaye ngiyibuke ngayo i-Mandala.
I-Mandala igxile kakhulu ekucabangeni kunasekubukeni yize noma ngimvumele umbukeli ukuthi aveze olwakhe uvo ngayo. Kepha ukwenza i-Mandala, ewubuchwepheshe akudingi ikhono noma umcabango ojulile kangako, ngoba lokho kuphambene ne 'nkululeko' yenqondo/imicibango yomumntu oyenzayo. Kepha kuwukuveza lokho okucashile emehlweni enyama okuyimizwa yomenzi wayo.
N.B. I-Mandala yize noma ingukuveza ukupheleliseka ayidingi ukuthi ihlale isikhathi eside.
Ngiwumenzi wobuciko bendwangu,yingakho ngisebenzisa yona kakhulu.Ngokuvamile uma usebenzisa indwangu uyaye ugcine usungumthungi sewenza nokunye okuhlanganisa ukusebenza ngendwangu.
I-Mandala yami ikuveza kahle lokhu ngemidlinzo nokuveza imicabango ngokujulile.Emuva kwesikhashana ngisebenzisana noKobie Venter ekwenzeni ama-Mandala,ngenze umsebenzi obizwa nge 'Mandala a day' okuyiqoqo lemisebenzi ewumzwangedwa ngephepha elenziwe ngesandla lase Ndiya. Umsebenzi wami njengamanje ugxile ekwenzeni imisebenzi emincane, enge'nasiphetho' endwangini yohlobo lwe Felt olwenziwe ngesandla. Ngikuthokozele ukuxuba izinto kulomsebenzi;ezitholiwe neziyimfucuza ngizinike ithuba lesibili lokuzisebenzisa kabusha .Ngokuka moya i-Mandala isivumela ukuba sizibheke ngokusha sicabange ngokujula kulokho esikwenzayo nesiyikho."
Jutta Faulds
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Overlapping Spaces
Contemporary Watercolour Landscapes by Kerry Michau
The Schreiner Gallery
12 July to 2 September 2007
Kerry Michau paints abstracted landscapes in watercolour. Kerry is fascinated by the properties of watercolour and attempts to maintain its delicacy an subtlety in small and large paintings.
She frequently uses unconventional formats. Her miniature landscapes are formatted like a film strip, capturing moments of light and changing colour. For larger works she places two landscapes alongside each other. These images stand in contrast and compliment each other.
Kerry matriculated at Pietermaritzburg Girls High School before studying a BA Fine Arts at the University of Stellenbosch. She currently lives and works in Durban.
Kerry was represented in the recently concluded Jabulisa 2006: the art and craft KwaZulu-Natal exhibition.
Kerry Michau in her own words
I was born and raised in Pietermaritzburg before heading to the Cape to study Fine Art at the University of Stellenbosch from 1997 - 2000. It was here that I developed my love for watercolour and obsession with colour, which is constantly fueled by the rich vibrant colours of Africa. After traveling abroad for three years after my degree I was drawn back to my roots here in KwaZulu-Natal and have been painting and exploring my medium since 2004.
I began painting landscapes which over time became more and more abstracted and now reflect memories I have of African land and seascapes, each image capturing a time and place in my life. Although my landscapes are all abstracted, they are not without subject. An idea of the horizon is always present, reflections of trees in water, the dappled light filtering through the trees. I find this type of abstraction interesting as it requires the use of the viewer's imagination, allowing them to draw their own conclusions about the work.
I found an extract from Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander's book - 'The Art of Possibility', which I find amusing and helpful when explaining abstraction. In the book they recall an incident which occurred in the life of Pablo Picasso. Recognising Pablo Picasso in a train compartment, a man inquired of the artist why he did not paint people "the way they really are." Picasso asked what he meant by that expression. The man opened his wallet and took out a snapshot of his wife saying, "That's my wife". Picasso responded, "Isn't she rather small and flat?" When people say to me that they do not understand abstract art I feel that they are underestimating their ability to interpret art. One needs just be open to allow the image to trigger ones imagination, because for me art is after all an escape into another world.
My choice of painting miniature and multiple images is inspired by the format of a film strip and the memories I have as a child staring out of the car window while traveling long distances with my family. They are narrations of my emotions, flashes of land, sea, shadows and trees. Each square is a window into another world. As far as my choice of watercolour as a medium I love the spontaneity and immediacy of the effect that I am able to achieve with watercolour. I work with the inertia and resistance that this medium creates, pushing and pulling the colours apart. Through my landscapes I am able to explore the properties of watercolour especially its capacity to convey transparency, luminosity and intensity of pure colour, which is why Africa provides the perfect subject. My choice of every colour used is a conscious one that evokes emotion in me and hopefully the viewer.
The images I paint work together to tell the story of the landscapes that I am portraying. I try to push the boundaries of the conventional and traditional landscapes painted in watercolour, and use the paint in new exciting ways which lend themselves to a more contemporary vision I have for the portrayal of my own Africa. While all South Africans are experiencing this period of enormous transition in our country, I am drawing on the common thread which binds us all for my inspiration, our country and its rich raw beauty.
Kerry Michau
KZN Schools Art Exhibition
accompanied with a Teachers Exhibition in the Schreiner Gallery
Main Gallery
to 8 July 2007
The annual KZN Schools Art Exhibition again highlights the diversity and quality of art produced in our secondary schools.
This exhibition brings together the work of public schools from across the province in this annual exhibition, which includes works from the Matric Art Examination in 2006. In addition a large number of year works will be on show, including art works from Independent Schools in the Msunduzi area.
Matric work will be displayed in the Foyer and Main Exhibition Room of the Tatham Art Gallery. At the same time a separate exhibition in the Schreiner Gallery will display examples of art made by the hardworking art teachers.
Viewers can look forward to the refreshing talents, skills and ideas of the young generation. Besides more conventional drawings, paintings, photographs, prints and sculptures, found objects are often used to express youthful views in unexpected ways.
The exhibition will be opened by Alexandra Headmaster, Mr Cilliers Heymans, and will be on view until 8 July.
FAULDS
"Women for Children" Print Portfolio Exhibition
Art for Humanity
The Main Gallery
15 February to 15 April 2007
Art for Humanity's Women for Children print portfolio consists of a collaboration of 50 foremost women artists and poets, 46 of which are South African, on the issue of children's rights and welfare.
The print portfolio includes contributions of etchings, linocuts, digital and mixed media prints created specifically for the campaign. Each artwork is accompanied by a poem in dialogue with the art communicating a strong message on the rights of our children and each poem has been translated into one of South Africa's 11 official languages.
Participating Artists
Some of the art and poetry collaborations included are from the following prominent women artists and poets: Bronwen Vaughan-Evans and Nise Malange; Gabisile Nkosi and Mavis Smallberg; Bronwen Findlay and Yvette Christiansë; Kim Berman and Mmatshilo Motsei; Diane Victor and Michelle McGrane; Lien Botha and Karen Press; Giselle Baillie and Magasina Majundo and Judith Mason and Magasina among others.
The work featured at the exhibition has recently been part of a national billboard campaign which involved the flighting of 21 art and poetry collaborations all over South Africa. The exhibition opening will double up as the launch of look at me - Women Artists and Poets Advocate Children's Rights, a book published by Art for Humanity, featuring a catalogue of the art and poetry commissioned for the Women for Children project.
Art for Humanity, has initiated a number of successful campaigns involving well-known and emerging artists creating art around human rights issues.
look at me - Women Artists and Poets Advocate Children's Rights
look at me - Women Artists and Poets Advocate Children's Rights is a powerful and poignant collection of art and poetry published by Art for Humanity.
The book launched on the 15th of February 2007 at the Tatham Art Gallery.
The art and poetry featured in look at m is the product of Art for Humanity's Women for Children project.
Art and Poetry Collaborations
The art and poetry collaborations are the focal part of the book and they have collectively rendered the plight of our children more visible - the poetry deepening the visual messages that emanate from the art. The work also highlights the voices of women as the mothers and primary care givers of our nation. Moreover, the aesthetic quality of the art and poetry adds inspirational value to the collection, thereby ensuring its impact on present and future generations.
To inform and inspire society, extracts from the poetry have been translated into South Africa's eleven official languages with the intention of allowing all South Africans to identify with the messages and claim these as their cultural heritage.
Additional features of the book include an intimate look at the role of art in advocacy and social development in South Africa. Although art advocacy has been practised as a form of therapy and at celebrations such as concerts and festivals, art-based advocacy like the Women for Children project, focused on sustainable development, hardly exists. In this sense Art for Humanity faces a blank canvas. Although there are many historical examples of art playing a role in advancing humanity in areas such as religion, health, economy, identity, gender and heritage, this role of art in society has largely been subverted by commercialism.
Art for Humanity have published the book with the objective that the Women for Children project, with its combination of art and poetry, will inspire South Africans to take moral ownership of the suffering of our children and to actively pursue the protection of their rights and welfare.
To purchase a copy of the book please contact Art for Humanity on +27 (031) 203 6610 or afh@dut.ac.za. For more information go to: http://www.afh.org.za
Exploring the Figure
The Mark Group Exhibition
The Schreiner Gallery
25 January to 11 March 2007
The Mark Group, which had its origins in the life drawing classes run by the Midlands Arts and Crafts Society, have met regularly for the past three or four years. The core group, who draw from live models at a member's home, meet with the expanded group at a community hall once a month.
The exhibition consists of drawings in various media, including pastel and water colour, all based on the human figure. The exhibition highlights the process of artmaking and shows us the journey of a group of artists traveling together.
The variety of creative backgrounds, such as painting, collage and fibre art from which the artists come, seem to influence the way they respond to a live model. Sessions are untutored, but group members comment freely on each other's work. These consistent group experiences are subsequently used by individual artists to inspire further work in their respective fields.