Art fights for inner city relevance

It’s eerily quiet at the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) on a Tuesday morning. The only people around are the few staff that the gallery can afford to employ and two men sitting on a bench in the main entrance, getting some peace and quiet from the busy city surrounding them.

It’s understandable that there aren’t many people in an art gallery on a weekday morning, but ,come Saturday afternoon, the gallery has still but a few visitors.  The continuous decline of the Central Business District (CBD), where the gallery is located, has meant that the largest gallery in Africa is now only visited on a rare occasion. Its visitation numbers have been on a steady decline and nowadays the gallery only sees a crowd at exhibition openings a few times a year.

The CBD has, over the years, become plagued by crime and traffic congestion, making it a less than perfect area to visit for tourists and locals alike. Visitors are often intimidated by the traffic surrounding the gallery and many people living around the CBD go right past it, assuming the gallery is a police station because of the large number of Metro police vans parked outside.

APPARENT POLICE STATION: Metro Police vans park outside the gallery daily, giving the impression that it is, in fact, a police station. Photo: Laura Pisannello

Once entering the gallery though, it seems worlds away from the bustling, congested Klein Street just 50 metres away. Tara Weber, the interim director of the gallery, sits in an outside courtyard having a smoke break, and the only noise to be heard is that of birds singing.

Weber, who has been the interim director of the gallery since the abrupt exit of former Chief Curator Antoinette Murdoch, is animated when talking about the exhibitions but does not gloss over the serious problems experienced either.  Weber has high hopes for the gallery, including more educational programmes for young people and the use of their once popular Art Bus.

“There are really big struggles, I think, being a municipal gallery in general, because we don’t have the direct access to the main [Department of] Arts and Culture budget. We all sort of have to fight for one budget,” said Weber.

The gallery’s incredible collection of art is often loaned to galleries for exhibitions around the world, many of which have been incredibly successful. The loans generate international exposure for both the gallery and South African artists, but do not provide an income and don’t help in encouraging locals to visit the gallery.

The JAG, which celebrated its centenary last year, had six massive exhibitions that showcased its impressive permanent collection. The initial collection, which has now grown to over 10 000 pieces, was first started by Lady Florence Phillips in 1910. Phillips, the wife of a wealthy Randlord, had the intention of displaying the works in a yet-to-be-designed gallery.

“To put it in perspective, if we were to fill the entire gallery wall to wall and ceiling to floor, it would still only be about 2% of the collection. That’s why I appreciate the loans so much – because then the art is actually seen,” said Weber about the massive collection at the JAG.

QUIET SPACE: The gallery offers benches and a quiet space that allows visitors a moment of peace. Photo: Laura Pisannello

The original building was designed by British architect Edwin Lutyens and in 1915 the doors to the unfinished gallery were opened. Since then, the East and West wings, which were in Lutyens’ original design, have been completed. In 1986 the gallery underwent a massive extension which effectively doubled its size.

With the extension complete, the gallery now boasts 15 exhibition rooms. The new extension, designed by Meyer Pienaar and Associates, has managed to mesh the grand high-ceilinged rooms designed by Lutyens with smaller, more modern rooms. The extension has not been without its problems though. The copper roofing, which was added to the extension, has been stolen numerous times, presumably to be used as scrap metal. This has resulted in a stream of continuous leaks and a serious dent in the JAG’s maintenance budget.

Murdoch left the gallery after seven years calling the experience a terrible one. In an interview, she said the problem was not with the gallery itself, but rather the funding issues with the City of Joburg. “They [the city council] would cut budgets at the last minute even though they’d been set from the beginning of the year; it was very painful to work like that.”

The process to have funding allocated to an exhibition is a lengthy one and numerous reports have to be submitted to seniors before funding can be approved. However, funding for the JAG was cut regularly after money had already been allocated and exhibitions had been budgeted for, said Murdoch.

“We didn’t have toilet paper! Only one of the seven years I worked there we had a gardener, the rest of the time we had to beg people to help!” said Murdoch who still feels very emotional about her experience at the gallery.

Weber speaks frankly about the problems citing both an overstretched budget and a lack of support from members of the public.

“I think people are more willing to fund stuff that is more glamorous looking. So in terms of funding it’s not a huge drawcard because they don’t want to be associated with this area, I don’t know, which is quite sad, I think,” said Weber.

Public space

The gallery has had many struggles, over the years, attempting to keep the degradation at bay while many other areas of the CBD have not been as lucky. The city is now riddled with decaying, boarded up buildings and the massive gallery has not been immune to the degradation.

As with many aging buildings in the CBD there has been talk of moving the gallery to another location and using the building for something more practical, perhaps a parking lot. “I think it’s quite interesting that it’s [the gallery] been through all of that but it’s still remained,” said Weber. “But I think it’s also an interesting response that once things start going downhill people are like, ‘Oh let’s move it.’“

Weber said that this is a very public space that allows people to use the gallery for a variety of reasons, even if they do not fit the norm of a gallery’s typical functions. Photographers from Joubert Park often use the gallery’s courtyards to take photos in front of sculptures and school children are provided a safe space to do their homework.

Joubert Park, which is connected to the gallery via its North Entrance, is a complete contrast to the gallery. While the gallery has few visitors on a weekday afternoon, the park is filled with people. Groups of men gather to watch a game of chess, children mill about in their school uniforms and hawkers sell sweets and chips around the park. David Selepe has been one of the park photographers for 32 years and regularly uses the gallery to take photos.

“It’s very nice there. A lot of people don’t go because when it was apartheid we weren’t allowed and now when we tell people they can go they are surprised and they want to walk around,“ said Selepe.

Selepe has his own suggestions for the gallery though – bring back the shop and cafe. “It’s nice for people to get a cool drink and walk around there, it’s very cool inside and it’s nice to sit there.”

This is something that not many other public spaces in the CBD offer. Weber has really tried to encourage the use of the gallery as a public space for all, while many other historic places in the CBD forbid any form of loitering; an unsettling reality in public spaces. “Most weeks school kids will often come here because it’s safer. I’m very much of the opinion that structures should be used in a natural way.”

EXHIBITION OPENING: The opening of two exhibitions draws a large crowd of art lovers to the gallery. Photo: Laura Pisannello

Constant struggle

The JAG recently appointed an education officer, Colin Groenewald, with the intention of creating more projects that encourage youths to visit the gallery and get involved in the arts. The funding for large programmes doesn’t come cheaply though, and their budget for educational programmes was cut right before his appointment.

“The money we got for education was minimal, so small I don’t even want to say it. Sometimes we would have to take money we made from exhibitions to use for programmes,” said Murdoch.

The gallery’s first educational workshop this year encouraged school kids to write their responses to exhibitions on a wall covered in chalkboard paint. “The workshop was filmed and photographed, and the idea is to use this footage to apply for funding for further educational sessions. Chalk has been left in the workshop room, and we invite the public to voice their own opinions,” Groenewald told Friends of JAG, a group dedicated to raising money for the gallery.

“It’s really nice because it’s engaging with kids who are in the area but had never been to the gallery before. We had a whole space where they could write on the walls and, I suppose, take ownership of the gallery,” said Weber.

OPENING SPEECH: Tara Weber, the interim director of the gallery addresses a large crowd at an exhibition opening. Photo: Laura Pisannello
Onwards and upwards

Municipal galleries play tug of war with the funds allocated, with each gallery trying to ensure it receives enough funding to keep it going. The funding is, of course, never enough to meet everyone’s needs and while maintenance costs pile up, budget allocations go down.

“Last year we finally did get a budget to start restoring the building, so there’s a lot of construction going on, on the roofs and so on, but unfortunately the first contractor screwed it up a little bit so we have to redo some of those projects,” said Weber, before adding with a laugh, “I firmly believe this building is cursed.”

Weber’s belief that the gallery might be cursed might not be entirely wrong.  Maintenance troubles aside, the gallery has experienced a serious shortage of staff which is highlighted by the fact that the gallery currently does not have a permanent chief curator. Weber said the gallery currently only has 30% of the staff that it needs to run properly.

Murdoch said that the lack of funding for exhibitions and maintenance really affected the ability to do her job. The last straw for Murdoch was when a two-year plan to exhibit works from Reunion, a small island off the east coast of Africa, had to be cancelled at the last minute because their funding was cut.

THE DAY BEFORE: Staff at the gallery excitedly prepare for the exhibition opening the next day. Photo: Laura Pisannello

The lack of funding required to hire a new director has been, among other problems, one of the biggest downfalls of the gallery. Lack of solid leadership has meant that other employees are required to fulfil many roles at once. Small details are overlooked and creativity when curating collections is limited.

The one thing the gallery has no shortage of is money to acquire new artworks, thanks to a generous trust started by Anglo-American. Their collection will continue to grow and under Weber’s temporary direction, will gather more Pan-African contemporary art as well as encourage a space to foster more artists.

The passionate staff at the gallery and the art lovers who are committed to helping them have been fighting an uphill battle. The continual lack of funding for the gallery has made it increasingly difficult to put on exhibitions.

The Anglo-American trust will allow the staff at the JAG to grow the incredible collection of art for many years to come, but a lack of funding for vital materials such as nails and paint might prevent the artworks from ever being exhibited.

FEATURED IMAGE: EXHIBITION OPENING: The opening of two exhibitions draws a large crowd of art lovers to the gallery. Photo: Laura Pisannello

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Three weeks of protest…and now a historic general assembly at Wits

 

Students gather around the steps of the Great Hall to listen to former SRC president Mcebo Dlamini. Photo: Laura Pisanello

Students gather around the steps of the Great Hall to listen to former SRC president Mcebo Dlamini.                                                                                                       Photo: Laura Pisanello

After three weeks of protest and shutdown, Wits University will hold a general assembly on Friday, one of only a few in the university’s history.

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As told to : I am completely against #FeesMustFall protests

A Wits student expresses her lack of support for the #FeesMustFall protests.

The amount of negativity and hate that I have for this protest is beyond belief. Before I get accused of having “white privilege” I’d love to state that I fully pay for my own university fees, without help from my parents, a bursary or loan. I work very hard doing promotional jobs, hostessing and waitressing so it is possible to pay for school fees no excuses. It just takes hard work.

Wits likes to pretend everything is okay and insists class will carry on as normal. They encourage us to come to class, yet when you try to leave the university you get attacked. My car is full of hand prints from where students slapped and hit my car and tried to push it. Beer was poured onto my car and because I wanted to leave the premises I was accused of “intimidating” the protesters. Meanwhile police and security watched this happen and did nothing about it.

Interviews with students show the protesters saying that they are non-violent yet evidence shows otherwise. Me needing to ditch my car and sneak out is not something I, nor anyone else, should be going through.

Protesters are being unreasonable and unrealistic. Firstly, inflation is an unavoidable reality. Secondly, free tertiary education won’t happen overnight and I believe it is really wishful thinking. I think they should rather focus on implementing free primary and high school education like many countries do (since basic education is a right whereas university is not a necessity).

I don’t know why they are striving for free tertiary education when primary and secondary education isn’t free yet. Surely if universities become free then the standard requirements for being accepted will be raised even higher? Then there will be protests about how poverty stricken applicants are being excluded because their basic education was just that – basic.

The problems with the protests range from destruction of property, the endangerment, intimidation and attacks on other students and police doing nothing (which I don’t entirely blame them for as the media portrays them as the villains and the protesters as the victims). Wits administration is also sloppy at letting us know what is going on.

I hate to say this but this is really an attitude of entitlement, I have had a job since I was 15 and a half years old. I took a gap year after matric and saved money because my parents couldn’t afford to pay for my university fees.. Free tertiary education is a pipe dream that takes steps and years to arrange, especially in a country like South Africa with so many political, economic and racial problems. This protest infringes on people’s rights, security and freedom of movement.

People work hard to pay for university whether it’s a student or a parent and no student should be harmed and attacked. These protesters need to get a grip and realise they just need to work hard, nothing in life comes for free. I don’t know what makes them think they’re so special that they deserve to study at a top ranking university in exchange for destroying its property and harming other students and staff.

 

Wits Sex Actually Festival marks its ninth year

WITS Drama for Life will hold their ninth annual Sex Actually festival in order to promote discussions about sexuality, culture and sexual health among students.

The festival will feature a variety of performances daily that will explore different aspects such as the relationship between black madams and black employees as well as a series of short plays that explore topics of love, humour and grief.

SexSports! will be held on the library lawns on Friday afternoon and will engage students during lunchtime. SexSports! aims at encouraging Witsies to discuss important issues in a fun and interactive way.

Zanele Madiba, the media officer for Drama for life, told Wits Vuvuzela that holding the festival each year plays an important role at Wits.

“It’s one of the few platforms available to discuss difficult issues which are considered a taboo in our African society,” she says.

The entire festival is designed to encourage interaction with students to allow for discussion of difficult issues such as sexuality, HIV and sexual health. Madiba says that the festival has helped create discussions about a variety of topics.

“We also have panel discussions with the theatre-makers and invited guests who are experts in the fields of sexuality, culture and sexual health,” Madiba says.

She highlights the importance of the Sex Talks series of the programme which is done with doctors from Wits Health Sciences and offers useful, practical information for students.

A lot of work is put into the festival from a call for productions, processing the applications and ensuring that all performances fit in with the theme of the festival. Fundraising is an important factor in their preparation as they do not have a consistent funder.

The Sex Actually festival will run from September 7-10 at the Wits Theatre Complex. The full festival programme is available online and tickets will be available at Wits Box Office.

Wits student suspended for attempted arson

A Wits student has been suspended in connection with the attempted arson of the Wits Law Library earlier this year.  Two former students have also been issued with cease and desist notices in order to prvent them from accessing the campus.

This development follows months of investigation by the university together with the South African Police Services (SAPS).

In a statement issued a short while ago, the university said the actions were taken against three students “who we believe were intent on burning down the Wits Law Library earlier this year”. The university did not name any of the students involved. Additionally, the statement read, “in the interests of protecting our staff and students and based on the evidence at hand, we were left with no option but to suspend the student and to bar the two former students believed to be involved in this criminal act. It would be irresponsible for us to do otherwise.”

At the end of May this year two students were caught climbing through a window in the law library carrying gas canisters. Security was alerted and the gas cannisters were removed although no suspects were identified as they were reported to be wearing balaclavas at the time.

The university opened a case of arson with the Hillbrow Police Station and as a result of the incident, security on campus was increased at key areas.

The 2016 elections so far

The start to the 2016 municipal elections has been smooth sailing for both the IEC and voters around the country, aside from a few small challenges.

Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) officials have reported a few cases of voting stations not being opened on time, mainly because incorrect ballots being delivered and bad weather conditions. Chief Electoral Officer, Mosotho Moepya, however, said that despite the challenges, all voters would be provided with the correct ballots.

There have been no reported incidents of violence. Voting stations in the troubled Limpopo region of Vuwani had been blocked off by members of the community, however, IEC officials set up a makeshift voting station instead. Other member of the community are holding soccer tournaments as an alternative form of protest.

Political leaders have shown up at their respective voting stations around the country to make their mark. President Jacob Zuma, former president Thabo Mbeki, Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane, former deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe and Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, all voted earlier today, while posing for photographs and in Thabo Mbeki’s case – holding impromptu press conferences.

The Department of Home Affairs has also been open since 7am to facilitate collection of ID documents, and to issue temporary IDs.

 

 

5 ANC promises to voters

The ANC manifesto outlines the party’s achievements and goals for the next five years. It places an emphasis on strengthening communities and providing a better standard of living for all South Africans.

Basic services:

These include 90% of households with access to piped water, 86% of households with access to electricity and 79.5% of households with access to basic sanitation. However, the manifesto is not specific on what “increased access” means.  The manifesto also states that the ANC has provided “3.7 million subsidised housing opportunities”.  There are no figures regarding the ANC’s goals for the next five years, only that it will “build on the achievements made in the delivery of basic services”.

Job creation:

Job creation has been a key point for the ANC and opposition parties. The ANC manifesto emphasises the success of the Expanded Public Works Programme which created five million “job opportunities” for poor and unemployed people between 2004 and 2014. The plan is to provide an additional six million jobs by the year 2019. Now the party promises to continue providing work opportunities by strengthening local economic development and providing a variety of programmes to communities that will focus on sport and recreational facilities, science and technologies and productive and creative skills.

Education:

Education has become a central focus for the whole country following student protests demanding access to free tertiary education. However, the manifesto does not outline the ANC’s achievements with regards to education (basic or tertiary) but merely mentions that it has “broadened access to adequate education and training”. The manifesto does note the importance of working together to place an emphasis on education in local communities and to “accelerate the development and support of early childhood development facilities”.

Health care:

The manifesto states that, “The ANC government has expanded access to primary healthcare services to more people.” However, it does not mention how this has been achieved or how many people constitute “more people”.  It lays out plans to improve access to health care by better equipping and maintaining clinics, strengthening programmes to promote healthy lifestyles, improving programmes to fight tuberculosis and expanding the treatment programme of HIV and Aids.

Crime and corruption:

The ANC says 234 government officials have been convicted for corruption. However, the manifesto is silent on what has been done to reduce crime. The ANC will strengthen community safety forums and the enforcement of municipality by-laws, and work with all sectors to reduce crimes against women and children and create massive campaigns against drug abuse.  The ANC will also implement more programmes to effectively deal with fraud and corruption and to ensuring there are consequences for illegal decisions made by municipal councils.