| Artists perform across Joburg |
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| Written by Lesego Madumo | |
| Tuesday, 13 May 2008 | |
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In Week of Visual Arts, artists will take their performance art pieces to public spaces. The show is part of the invigorating Spier Contemporary show at the Johannesburg Art Gallery. 
From "Turnstile" by Gerard Bester
JOHANNESBURG will become a canvas, on which art will be made, over five days as part of the Spier Contemporary 2007 exhibition. Week of Visual Arts starts on Wednesday, 14 May at 3pm, and runs until Sunday, 18 May, during which time performance art pieces will take place at various venues across the city. The Spier Contemporary show is on at the Johannesburg Art Gallery. "[Week of Visual Arts] is an enthralling programme of live performance art pieces throughout the city of Joburg," notes its curator, Clive van den Berg. In all, more than 2 500 works were submitted for the Spier Contemporary exhibition, out of which only 100 pieces were chosen. These range from sculptures to performance arts. The exhibition is arguably the most diverse, and the biggest South African art display this year and last, say organisers. It features captivating South African sculptures, paintings, photographs, videos, installations and performance art. Artists with works in the show hail from all nine provinces, and range from urban to rural, professional to upcoming and traditional. "With [Week of Visual Arts] public art performances we want to showcase work that has been exclusive before, and deliver it to the public," says Van den Berg. "We are hoping to get to see the full extent of these artists and a varied set of performances." He notes that although the concept is not unique in the country, it is still "very unusual" to fuse an art exhibition with visual public art performances.
Programme 
From "The other side of the river tour 2: Show and Tell" by the Doing it for Daddy collective
On 15 May, Gerard Bester performs Turnstile at the main entrance to the University of the Witwatersrand School of the Arts, in Braamfontein. Bester will perform the same piece again on Friday, 16 May and Saturday, 17 May on the pavement outside the Sandton Convention Centre. All performances start at 1pm. It is back to the Johannesburg Art Gallery on 18 May, where Peter van Heerden performs his piece, Flowers for My Flesh, at 3pm to close the programme. He features Ruth Levin with a solo piece, Vertical and Horizontal 1; Anthea Moys and Kai Lossgott perform Unsaid, and Bettina Malcolmess of the award-winning collective Doing it for Daddy, presents The Other Side of the River Tour 2: Show and Tell. The fascinating Spier Contemporary 2007 exhibition is on at the Johannesburg Art Gallery until 31 May. From Joburg, it travels to the coastal city of Durban in August. It began at the Spier Estate near Stellenbosch in Western Cape. A biennial event, the exhibition is named after its primary sponsor, Spier, and is an initiative of the Africa Centre, an arts forum that seeks to celebrate, research and bring to life the visual, intellectual and performance cultures of Africa in innovative ways. The Johannesburg Art Gallery is on King George Street in Johannesburg, adjoining Joubert Park. It is open from Tuesdays to Sundays, from 10am to 5pm. For exhibition enquiries telephone the organisers, Africa Centre on 021 881 3116 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Related stories: |
