Rites of Fealty/ Rites of Passage

The Bag Factory presents:

Rites of Fealty/ Rites of Passage

A one-night exhibition of performance art

Date: 18h00, Tuesday, 29 July 2008

Venue: Bag Factory Gallery, 10 Mahlatini Street, Fordsburg, Johannesburg

The Bag Factory’s About Art program presents ‘Rites of Fealty/ Rites of Passage’, a one-night exhibition of new performance artworks by a group of emerging South African artists. The exhibition follows an intensive 10-day workshop in performance art presented by Johan Thom. The workshop was structured as a non-hierarchal laboratory, with each of the artists selected for participation already having established a visible presence in the South African cultural sphere. Artists like Ismail Farouk, Anthea Moys, Kemang wa Luhere and Murray Turpin all share in a multi-disciplinary approach to artistic expression, freely mixing elements of fields as far as urban geography, digital sound sampling, video, public performance, dance and theatre into their oeuvres.

New works have been commissioned by each of the participating artists.

Artists include:

Bronwyn Lace, Nadine Hutton, Anthea Moys, Mlu Zondi, Ntando Cele, Rat Western, Ismail Farouk, Murray Turpin, Kemang wa Luhere, Dinkies, Sithole, Johan Thom

The theme ‘Rites of fealty/ Rites of passage’ stresses the transformative capacity of art where the artwork is envisioned as a rite of passage through which both artist and viewer may plot alternatives to existing modes of relating to our familiar surroundings, ordinary social interactions, physical gestures and use of language. In this way art may act as a gateway that embodies the possibility for personal and societal change through direct action and physical participation.

The workshop and exhibition is made possible by:

The Ford Foundation

The Bag Factory

Special thanks to the Nirox Foundation

The exhibition is curated by:

Johan Thom

Bronwyn Lace

Contact details:

info@bagfactoryart.org.za (email)

+27 (0)11 834 9181 (tel)

Invitation to Deposit Work at Joburg Art Bin

Empty Office invites collectors of local art to deposit pieces from their private collections into the Joburg Art Bin at the Bag Factory for “creative recycling” between the 18^th of July and the 1^st of August 2008.

A team of artists, in consultation with the collector depositing the work, will dismantle the work and use the physical detritus to develop proposals for public artworks to be installed in Johannesburg. The collector who deposits work will play a critical role in deciding what site the art work will be reconfigured for.

The central idea behind the project is to invite collectors to democratize their art collections by donating pieces of it to the public realm. Empty Office argues that because of the increasing commercialization of the visual arts, cultural production is essentially becoming privatized and controlled by capital. The project is radical in the sense that it asks collectors to depart with work they may treasure in order to invest in the idea of art rather than material instances of it. There are many reasons why an art collector may feel motivated to donate work to the Joburg Art Bin: they may feel that a piece is obsolescent, reached its sell-by date, that it is ideologically problematic, that it has potential to be shared with a broader community, or a collector may just be curious about what happens to piece of art that they own is dismantled by another visual artist.

We are interested in how art objects are remotivated in new contexts, specifically in how the lives of objects change as they move from the private into the public domain. In this sense, the project is neither nihilistic nor anti-aesthetic but rather celebrates the contribution that artists make to culture, by asking artists to materially intervene directly on the artworks that collectors have donated to the Joburg Art Bin.

Participate in maintaining the dynamism of contemporary culture by depositing a piece from your private collection at the Bag Factory at our opening event at 17h30, Friday the 18^th of July 2008.

Call for applications: Sylt Quelle Cultural Award for Southern Africa

How do Southern African writers, artists, choreographers, musicians and theatre-makers see their art in the context of the society they live in? What are the fundamental issues of their countries, and what ideas do they have for solving them?

In 2008, the foundation kunst:raum sylt quelle, in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg is launching the “sylt quelle cultural award for Southern Africa”. This competition is open to artists of all disciplines from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Swaziland.

Artists may apply with a project that will link culture and society, creating a context in which culture will have an impact on social structures and attitudes. The winner/winners will receive an award of 10,000 Euros, which must be used to finance the proposed project.

Selections will be made by an independent jury in a two-stage process.

The realized project/projects will be presented at the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg , the kunst:raum sylt quelle in Germany and other venues. The authors rights of the selected projects are not touched through this call of proposals.

Applications may be sent to the Goethe-Institut in Johannesburg and must include the following:
- a Curriculum Vitae and description of your career as an artist
- a detailed description of your project and a binding budget plan
- samples of your work

To simplify the selection process, we ask that all applications be by email or CD. Other forms of documentation will not be considered. Application material will not be returned. All decisions of the jury are final, reasons for rejections will not be disclosed.

Applications should be sent to:

Goethe-Institut Johannesburg
kunstpreis@johannesburg.goethe.org

Further information:
www.goethe.de/Johannesburg
www.kunstraum-syltquelle.de

Deadline: 15th September 2008

Call for Papers: ULI: Journal of Visual Arts and Culture Nigeria

ULI: Journal of Visual Arts and Culture is a referred academic bi-annual publication of the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (visit nsukkaartschool.info). It is to be published in June and December each year electronically and, occasionally, in hard copies.

The publication aims to critique and document contemporary developments in the visual arts and culture of Nigeria, Africa and the world. It shall open up and sustain debate on issues in Nigerian and international art as a way of contributing to art scholarship and professionalism in the so-called Third World.

Well-researched papers are invited for the first issue to be published in December 2008.

Historical, critical, art educational, and other scholarly articles on modern and postmodern tendencies in the art and visual culture of Africa are welcome, as well as reviews, interviews and portfolios.

Articles should be typed and double-spaced on A4 paper and should not exceed 20 pages. Reference should conform to the Harvard style. Photographs and illustrations should be clear enough for print reproduction; poor quality photographs will not be accepted.

Submissions can be sent in hard copy by post or in soft copy via e-mail. Although materials are accepted all year round, the deadline for submission for the maiden issue is 31st November, 2008.

All correspondences to:
Dr. Ozioma Onuzulike
Department of Fine and Applied Arts,
University of Nigeria,
Nsukka.
E-mail: oozioma@nsukkaartschool.info
Uli-journal@nsukkaartschool.info

Marvellous World: Bronze Casting Workshop and Panel Discussion

In conjunction with the Marvellous World exhibition, currently on show, The Bag Factory invites the public to participate in a bronze casting workshop and discussion panel.

Bronze Casting Workshop over two weekends: 5 - 6 July 2008 and 12 - 13 July 2008, starting at 10 am every morning.
Interactive Panel Discussion: Friday 11 July 2008 5:30 for 6pm

The Bronze Casting workshop will take place on the weekends of the 5th and 6th as well as the 12th and 13th of July.

It will serve as a basic introduction to the bronze casting process. It will cover the beginning and the end of the process. The wax positive generation (art) and the demoulding, fettling, finishing and paternation (craft) of the final artwork. The rest of the process will be demonstrated and discussed but will be carried out by my assistant in Guy du Toit's studio and could form the basis of a more advanced workshop.

Participants need no previous casting experience and age is not a criteria. The number of participants is limited to 10 for logistical and transport reasons, we run on a first come first serve basis. Please book with Bronwyn on 011 834 9181 or bronwyn.lace@gmail.com.

Cost R 800 per participant - this would include wax, modelling tools, all the process that is not part of the workshop, namely, the gating and investing of the wax positives, the burnout of the wax - melting and alloying of the bronze, pouring and finishing. It also includes some snacks and transport to the foundry.

The weight of our object will have to be about 3 kg or the size of a mans fist.

Wax positives will be made at The Bag Factory on the weekend of the 5th and 6th, if you complete your positive on the 5th there is no need for you to come on the 6th.

One week is necessary for the gating and investment, to be done in Zwavelpoort studio.

Burnout, casting and finishing at Zwavelpoort studio on the weekend of the 12th and 13th, we'll all travel to the studio together where we'll have a bring and braai to end it off.

The workshop is facilitated by the artists of the Marvelous World team, this includes Guy du Toit, Sarel Petrus, Paul Cooper and Richard Forbes.

For any questions please contact Bronwyn at The Bag Factory on 011 834 9181
The Bag Factory, 10 Mahlatini Street, Fordsburg