David Koloane

Technology and the Internet

 

9 January 98

When Charity and I first got to Johannesburg we went down to the 2nd Johannesburg Biennale to see the show. We met with Susan Glanville in the offices there and she gave us names and numbers for many important Johannesburg artists. David was one of those. names. We are truly thankful that Susan showed so much enthusiasm.

 
   
PJ:
Hello David, it's a pleasure to meet you. Let's start by finding out about Speedy Bag , what is the history of this workshop and artists exchange program?  
DK:

The whole story begins with the workshop program that we started in 1985. To begin with, I was invited to an international artists' workshop in upstate New York in 1983 which was started by Anthony Carl. Back in 1983 it wasn't easy to travel from country to country, especially as a black without the necessary permits and papers. [Based on my experience with this workshop, I decided that I wanted to start an arts studio and residency program in South Africa] so the consulate provided us with the proper vehicle to bring artists here from all over the country to work here together. We had to provide sleeping accommodations and food for two weeks. We had to raise funds to do it. I spoke to a late colleague of mine , I was at the time studying in London. I told him how excited I was about doing workshops here. He then came back to South Africa and raised the money for the first workshop. [The workshop] provided a way of improving the artists work -- they could share ideas and . . . resolve technical ideas. The only shortcoming was that we only met once a year for two weeks.

[The reason there is a great need for such workshops here is because] the townships have very little room for anything else but accommodations, you know the houses are built dormitory style, four rooms, there are no bathrooms, the toilet is outside . There was just no way that the artists could work under those conditions and as a result most of the black artists' work was relatively small in scale and they [work mainly with] charcoal, crayons . . . when they finally started using paint, it was water colours, because they couldn't afford oils. The workshop was the first time that these artists got to work with other materials. We would usually buy canvas and paints at reduced prices because we were buying in bulk, we would also include paint-making and paper-making. We would also invite a foreign artist, especially from the States because it was easier to get funding from the United States Information. We would invite artists who would share their experiences and also bring slides of fellow artists, and for the first time artists here got a better idea of what artists were doing outside South Africa. What that produced was nonfigurative work, firstly because of their short stay, the artists here were trying out paints for the very first time . Some of the artists were influenced by the visiting artists. But most of the artists had a natural flair for colour which came out very strongly in their own work. There was no problem in working in a nonfigurative form and I think this proved to help the local artists who wondered, how can this be. [These artists] have problems doing nonfigurative [work] -- which they had to do from a theoretical viewpoint -- and here were people who didn't have the formative training -- they just did it spontaneously. We felt that in order for this work that was happening in the workshops to be sustained, we had to find a place. It took us some years to find something. Back then black people weren't allowed to own property either , so we looked at this building, back then because of the Group Areas Act there were areas that were zoned for different people. This area was designated a Gray Area -- zoned for Indians. It's also a semi-industrial area. They couldn't quite pin a designated white or black area. [The government] had problems designating the Indians. We thought that this would be a convenient area to look in, it took us two years though. This used to be a bag factory, they used to make burlap [as you call it in the States] bags here.

So we moved in here [1991] and we got funding from local companies to renovate this into studios [. . .] but it took time because the concept of studios here in South Africa is practically unknown, especially because of the racial divisions the whites for example had plenty of space, they could work in their garages but blacks had no studio space.

The idea of artists coming together to share a space is relatively unknown [here]. This was the first of it's kind . When I studied in London, a group of artists invited me to work with them. They worked in an old bus depot that the consulates [had given] to the artists for a nominal fee . All they had to pay for was the water and lights, and any renovations if necessary. So I worked with these artists on the weekends, this idea of a studio workspace gave me some new insight. Here were artists from different groups, some had day jobs, some would come on the weekends because they didn't have the time during the week. This all reinforced the idea, the importance of having a studio workspace for artists here -- a collective workplace.

When we found this place it took us some time before it took off. We also decided to open up to artists of all race groups and not only blacks because it would be better for us to interact with fellow white artist and build some solidarity. It worked out very well. Some of the best artists have worked here. Later on we started the visiting artists program. Some of the artists run programs in the townships. We had an American artist here last year, a photographer who taught the students how to put together a pinhole camera. After that, they did their photography project in the township and had their show at a gallery here in Johannesburg. We encourage that kind of interaction, do a lecture about the differences between here and there, in that way it becomes very meaningful. We have had a successful program. For the first time since the new Government has came in, we have gotten a department of Arts and Culture, we also have a National Arts Council. Our visiting Arts Program is funded by the Department of the National Arts Council. Most of the artists who were with us in the workshop project were now able for the first time to confirm their work and really decide what they wanted to do, because now they can work consistently. Some still have to work day jobs to earn a living. [But] most of the artists who work here are showing internationally. We feel like if we had more spaces like this it would facilitate more local projects.

 

 

 
PJ:

Are these National Councils funding individual artists?

 

 
DK:
Yes , there are individual [grants] for groups and for young artists . The program for young artists is to give fundings towards study. There's one young artist who was awarded a grant to study in the United States.

 

 
PJ:

What are your thoughts about the lack of education referring to African art history. ?

 

 
DK:

There is a body that has been formed to look into that specific area. It is going to take a long time. If you go to the Eastern Transvaal , a place called Venda. They have a traditional carving that is very popular there. They also do a lot of ceramics, it has been going on since the eighteenth century. There is an elderly artist in that area called Jackson Hormany who is a religious figurehead. His work is very religious. He takes a lot from the bible and trains a whole lot of young people to do carving. He started with his own sons. That is the history of workshops here in South Africa where young people go and work with a master, they learn by observation, how he does things, what kind of tree, how he starts working into that tree. Later on they are doing the same thing. What I would like to see happen eventually, both forms of apprentices being taught to students. There [are many] forms to learn from Western methods. Painting and printmaking are Western methods that the students need to learn about. I think a combination of the two will work very well with the students.

 

 
PJ:
I'd like to shift gears a little bit here. We've talked about Speedy bag and now I would like to find out more about your work.  
DK:

I was born in an urban area, in a township called Alexander. When I grew up I thought that black people were not allowed to be artists because I didn't know of any artists in the community -- other than of musicians. (I used to have two friends at school that were keen to do illustration, we would get lunch from the other students to do illustration. We had a teacher that told us a lot about arts. At the time there was a national competition by the National Roads Safety Organization that was trying to promote road safety within the different communities. This teacher brought in an entry from another student that was much better that ours, indeed he went on to win second prize. I . . . recognized that this was indeed a very important form of expression because it appeared in the newspapers.) I didn't know of any elderly artists. When I went to high school we moved to Soweto and I met an artist there who did water colours. He had a natural talent. He took me to galleries in the city and showed me his work there, and I realized that I really wanted to be an artist. He eventually went to London to study. But before he left, he recommended me to a white artist who was running private lessons from his home. I became part of that practice . . . although at the time, black people weren't allowed to be seen in the house. So I'd be there and someone would come around and I would pretend that I was just working there. This teacher also had a lot of art books and slides and a huge library. I think it was an art center. I got a lot of information in art books and general discussions with the other students. He used to invite prominent people to come and give lectures. Each week someone would be lecturing about the art market in South Africa or some other form of art. If there was a visiting artist from another city like Cape Town, he would ask them to come and lecture about their own interactions with other artists. I got to learn a lot in a very short space of time because of my association of these artists.

My work is very influenced by the township surroundings and by what I see around me.

 

 
PJ

What do you think the social or political responsibility of the artist is?

 

 
DK
Actually as far as I'm concerned I think they both go together, the fact that we have been under this apartheid system for so long I think it's incumbent that the artist will try to uplift people, impart some knowledge. The artist needs to do something for the community . Things aren't always dark and gloomy. The previous government here didn't want to provide access to blacks, no facilities, no form of infrastructure in the communities, actually for a black to become an artist was in itself, an act of defiance . You had to always defy the odds to have your work hung in a gallery next to white artist's work. I think the fact that there are a group of international artists who formed a group called Artists against Apartheid for me is a moving thing. Apartheid was an insult to us black people. Those artists came here to meet Mandela when we elected a new democratic government.

 

 

 
CE:

Do you curate other shows as well?

 

 
DK

Yes I do. I write as well. I do many things. I think it is because there are so few of us. I had to teach myself to write and to curate. Fortunately I [participated] in a course in London for two years. All the writing here was being done by white writers -- that's why I feel compelled to write.

 

 
PJ

It takes a lot of strength to do what you have done, this country needs more people like yourself. What are your thoughts about the developments with technology and the internet?

 

 
DK
I haven't done anything with the internet. My nephews can all use computers because they are starting to study them in school. A big company here donated many computers to some of the schools. It's a very important contribution. I need to get a computer by next year.