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.
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