Joburg Art Fair 2016 a ‘runaway success’

12 September 2016

 

The FNB Joburg Art Fair 2016, which took place at the Sandton Convention Centre at the weekend, has been described as an “overwhelming success”.

 

Art Fair Director Mandla Sibeko said he was “very excited” about the positive response the fair received.

“It was very exciting in the sense that it reflected Johannesburg’s cultural diversity. It was world-class and the turnout was great,” enthused Sibeko.

The FNB Joburg Art Fair, which was supported by the City of Johannesburg and Gauteng Department of Arts and Culture, featured 89 exhibitions in six categories from galleries and organisations across 17 African and European countries and the United States. This year’s focus was on East Africa as a dynamic hub of art on the continent and featured a selection of leading artists from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, Sudan as well as South Africa.

Curator Lucy MacGary said the art fair had grown in leaps and bounds over the past two years, almost trebling the number of exhibitions – from 37 in 2014 to 89 this year. MacGary said the focus this year on East Africa was to give artists in those countries an international platform to market themselves. MacGary said artists such as Aida Wuleneh of Ethiopia, who also works as a Washington Post correspondent, were the face of East African countries as they appeared in advertisements and billboards to showcase African talent.

The art fair also featured works of South African artists such as the late George Pemba of Port Elizabeth – whose artistic work of Umhlekazi Hintsa, the King of amaXhosa, is of outstanding quality – and David Goldblatt, Sam Nhlengethwa, Gerard Sekoto, Jabulani Dlamini, Toriya Magadlela and Santu Mofokeng. Other top artists who were featured were Sannaa Gatya of Uganda, whose work is made of paper beads, wood and discarded newspapers; Paul Onditi of Kenya and Michael Tsegaye of Ethiopia.

MacGary said ticket sales for the ninth edition of the fair were good. She said she was also impressed with the turnout, which included groups of learners on the first day on Friday September 9.

“We’re looking forward to the 10th edition in September next year. We hope next year to have more international galleries and artists participating and to receive the same support from the City of Johannesburg and the Gauteng Provincial Government,” she concluded.