Heartbreaker
Sunday, March 22, 2009
And the Cape 09 criticism begins. Joburg Art Fair director Ross Douglas, in an article for this week's Mail & Guardian, dropped the following subtle yet scathing bomb:
"In May last year we sat to plan the 2009 fair. With the absence of a biennale or any other perennial contemporary art show in the country, there was an opportunity for our fair to play a bigger role than providing only a market for art from the continent."
He drives the point home later with:
"As the art world focuses more sharply on value, art from Africa will become of greater interest. To capitalise on this opportunity we need to create art events that last long enough to become part of the international art calendar. The start and collapse of the Johannesburg Biennale and the stillbirth of Cape Africa Platform reinforce negative perceptions of Africa."
Eina.
Labels: Cape 09, Joburg art fair, Ross Douglas
posted by Tim Leibbrandt at 4:46 PM
3 Comments:
i wanted to join Cape 09's facebook group and found to my dismay that one can only 'become a fan' and not a member. Ugh, that is gross.
If anyone else wants to go through this grisly experience, it can be found under "Cape Africa Platform" on facebook
that furry kitty is so cute I can't close this page
Ross Douglas's article is inspiring. Maybe the idea that you can buy cheap art here cos we're all broke is a bit of depressing way in to thinking about our position in the world, but at least it makes a lot more sense than the unrealistic claptrap you hear being bandied about, and he certainly is cutting it. I really agree with him that there have been few reliable entry points into this country, and yet when they have been there, as in the first Johannesburg Biennale, they made the careers of a whole lot of artists.
Go Ross go.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home