Expect wall-to-wall art during Joburg Art Week, which features exhibitions, Africa's first contemporary art fair, talks and tours.

Zanele Muholi's Miss D'vine I (2007), from the Michael Stevenson Gallery

LAST year Joburg hosted Africa Remix; this year it's the city's first-ever art fair. The Joburg Art Fair continues the art extravaganza from last year, with 5 000m² of floor space filled with contemporary artwork from seven African countries.

Joburgers will be exposed to the work of some of South Africa's top artists - Zwelethu Mthethwa, William Kentridge, Santu Mofokeng, David Goldblatt, Pieter Hugo and Sabelo Mlangeni, among others, in addition to some of Africa's best newcomers.

The fair runs from 14 to 16 March at the Sandton Convention Centre. But unlike Africa Remix, the art will be on sale, ranging in price from R1 000 to R5-million a piece.

Ross Douglas, the director of Artlogic, the organisers of the event, says that the Joburg Art Fair "will establish South Africa as an essential stop-over on the global contemporary art buying calendar".

Joburg Art Week
It is part of Joburg Art Week, with enough works on show to make the art lover dizzy. The week includes Marlene Dumas's Retrospective at the Standard Bank Gallery; William Kentridge's 9 Films for Projection at the Linder Auditorium; and Spier Contemporary, 120 works brought to Joburg from the Cape, on at the Johannesburg Art Gallery. A Floor Party at the old Stock Exchange building in Diagonal Street will round off the week's artistic celebrations.

In all, 22 galleries are participating - 16 top local galleries will showcase works alongside six international galleries, from New York, Berlin, London, Strasbourg, Cairo and Rabat in Morocco. Local galleries include Art Extra, Art on Paper, Bell-Roberts Gallery, David Krut, Erdmann Contemporary Gallery, Everard Read Gallery, Gallery Momo, Goodman Gallery, Joao Ferreira Gallery, KZNSA Gallery, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Rooke Gallery, SMAC Gallery, Warren Siebrits and Whatiftheworld Gallery.

Africa Remix
The curator of Africa Remix, Simon Njami, is back, this time curating As you like it, with artists from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, Kenya and Democratic Republic of Congo. Njami has selected works by artists who will not be represented by galleries at the fair; all these works will be on sale.

Colbert Mashile's Moruti Wa Lesela (2007), from the David Krut Gallery

The fair is sponsored by FNB. Michael Jordaan, the banking group's chief executive, says: "Although global art calendars are filled with art fairs, there are none that focus on African contemporary art. In fact, there's not a single art fair in the whole of Africa."

He predicts that it will become an annual event.

"The Joburg Art Fair will very quickly become a focal point for buyers, sellers and those interested in contemporary African art to meet annually," Douglas claims. Artlogic also brought William Kentridge's production of The Magic Flute to South Africa, as well as Africa Remix.

He explains that corporates are a big market as buyers, while international collectors are a small but critical market. "Our primary audience is South Africans interested in contemporary culture."

Robin Rhode
The feature artist at the fair is Robin Rhode; from Cape Town, he now lives in Berlin. He has collected a string of awards: the 2007 Illy Prize at Art Brussels, the 2006 W South Beach Commission, Art Positions at Art Basel Miami Beach and the Ars Viva 05/06 Identity Award in Berlin.

Lawrence Lemaoana's The One (2006) from the Art Extra Gallery

Rhode fuses street art, photography and performance, and will be presenting his Empty Pockets at the fair. On a recent trip to Beijing he noticed people playing pool outdoors, much like he had observed back home, leading to the work. In it he has combined a street recording of a traditional Chinese string instrument called a guzheng with an animated upside-down pool table, projected in white and black photography.

Empty Pockets is presented together with two photographic works from 2007, Rough Cut and Black Fist, a sculpture called Empties, and a large spray painting on canvas.

The artist will conduct a walkabout at 4pm on Friday, 14 March. Rhode says he started out as an artist in 1999 and presented his performance piece, Car Theft, at the Market Theatre in Joburg. In 2003, he went to Minneapolis in the United States on a residency.

His artistic background comes from a particular experience, he says. In high school an element of initiating newcomers to the school was to take them to the toilets, draw on the walls and force them to interact with the crude two-dimensional drawings. He developed his performance art along much the same lines, but says he has now retired from performing. "Doppelgangers [doubles] perform for me now."

Special projects
Also on the programme are special projects, including The Funda booth, which will showcase emergent artists from the Funda Community College, an arts development institution.

Herve Yamguen's Portrait (2005), from the Galerie Ames D'Afrique

Another project is the lifestyle and VIP space designed by Tonic Design, highlighting the finest South Africa design work.

A programme of talks is also planned. On Saturday, 15 March at the Alexander Theatre in Braamfontein several speakers will talk about their specialist areas, including Njami and Rhode.

The fair is open from 11am to 8pm on Friday; 10am to 6pm on Saturday; and 10am to 4pm on Sunday. On Saturday a 75 percent student discount is offered from 2pm to 6pm. Tickets are R100, available at the door. There will be guided tours on 14 March at midday and 2pm, and at 11am and 2pm on 16 March.

All the details are available on the Joburg Art Fair website.

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