Latest news with #SpierArtsTrust
Time Out
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Spier unveils striking new arts exhibition
Aside from a chic new hotel, elegant country picnics, world-class wines, and a manicured estate that begs to be explored… if you needed another reason to visit Spier Wine Farm outside Stellenbosch, we've got one for you. Now open in the historic Old Wine Cellar of this rejuvenated Stellenbosch estate, Grounded Practice is a brand-new exhibition by Tamlin Blake, Chief Curator of the Spier Arts Trust, who has brought together 63 works by 42 South African artists. More than just a beautiful collection of ceramics, it's intended as a timely reflection on balance, belonging and our bond with the earth. Leaving the theme open-ended, Blake allowed the work of the collected artists to emerge organically. 'What came through, almost overwhelmingly, was a sense of instability – personally, politically, environmentally,' explains Blake. 'Many artists were using their practice to find their footing again, to reestablish a sense of balance and belonging. That's where the title 'Grounded Practice' comes from.' At the heart of the exhibition is clay, a central aspect of the estate's own terroir, and one of the world's oldest art materials. 'Clay is a potent and enduring material in human civilisation,' says Blake. 'It's often seen as a metaphor for creativity, malleability, and human potential. But once it's fired and becomes ceramic, it also represents permanence and resilience.' On display are works that range from bold and conceptual to playful and tactile, with something for art collectors and casual browsers alike. Highlights include Sinethemba Xola's spiritually infused vessels, Anita Sikutshwa's abstract forms drawn from African mythology, and Sylvester Mqeku's haunting sand-cast ceramics. 'Ceramics often don't get the spotlight they deserve,' says Blake. 'This show is a celebration of just how innovative, thoughtful, and beautiful the art form can be.' Best of all? Entry to 'Grounded Practice' is free.
The Guardian
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Peri-peri patron: how Nando's amassed a huge collection of South African art
On a weekday lunchtime the Nando's restaurant in Maponya Mall in Soweto, the sprawling former Black township on Johannesburg's outskirts, was busy with couples, white-collar workers and older women dining alone. Behind them, a vivid graffiti portrait of a young Black woman filled the wall. The mural, by the Cape Town artist Kilmany-Jo Liversage, is part of one of the largest private art collections in the world and, its curators believe, potentially the largest on public display. Nando's has been buying South African art to display in its peri-peri chicken restaurants globally since 2004, amassing a collection of about 32,000 pieces from 700 artists and becoming one of the country's most significant supporters of visual artists. 'They're like a parent to me,' said Liversage, who has created more than 10 murals for restaurants from Chicago to Dubai and sells one or two of her bright, spray-painted portraits of women to the company every few months. The chain was founded in Johannesburg in 1987 by Fernando Duarte and Robbie Brozin. The idea to start buying art came from Dick Enthoven, an insurance magnate who bankrolled the international expansion and came to own the chain. Nando's did not respond to questions, including whether the family of Enthoven, who died in 2022, still owns the private chain. Mirna Wessels, the chief executive of Spier Arts Trust, a non-profit that sources pieces for the Enthovens' private collection and businesses, said: 'It was a little challenging in the beginning … a lot of those hardy chicken and chips guys just didn't understand why they would now have to include fine art on the walls. 'But now I'm very comfortable and sure that it's part of their DNA.' Diana Hyslop, who started painting in the 1990s after a stint drawing for Marvel Comics in London, said Enthoven was one of the 'visionaries' who had had the biggest impact on her career. Hyslop, 75, who has sold about 250 of her magical realist works to Nando's, said: 'Dick bought a couple of pictures from the beginning … It's been fantastic, very generous.' Nando's, which has more than 1,200 restaurants in more than 20 countries, also runs the 'Creative Block' programme, giving artists 18cm or 30cm square wooden blocks to work on and providing personalised feedback. Then, three to four times a year in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Gqeberha, artists can submit work for the Spier Arts Trust to select and present in turn to Nando's executives. The company has a separate mentorship scheme for furniture and lighting designers. Over seven years, 70 designers had sold 65,000 pieces worth 200m rand (£8m) to Nando's restaurants, said Tracy Lynch, whose agency Clout/SA administers the programme. Wessels said Nando's bought about 2,000 works a year from 280 different artists, but would not share how much was spent, or the collection's value. Tamlin Blake, the Spier Art Trust's chief curator and a tapestry artist, said that in order to be considered for purchase, artworks had to be family-friendly, about 1 metre by 1.5 metres, and not behind glass. 'I do believe if the work is authentic and has something to say and is beautifully made, there will be a space for it somewhere,' she said. Kagiso Patrick Mautloa, 73, who creates everything from sculptures to mixed-media pieces, said the relationship gave him freedom: 'I put more of myself into the work.' Wessels said relationships were key: 'We just continuously run our career development programme, where artists are introduced to us. Tamlin will review and decide if an artist is serious about building an art career and has something unique to bring to table.' Anastasia Pather, who fingerpaints bright abstract pieces at her home studio in Johannesburg, said Nando's had been buying her work since she first started exhibiting. The 37-year-old, who was part of a Nando's exhibition in Dallas, Atlanta and now New Orleans, said: 'If you have some assurance that there is a more consistent patron of your work, you can take a few more risks in your pieces … I just wouldn't be able to be a full-time artist.' Vivien Kohler, whose works include everyday 'found' objects such as street signs, said the art world's elitism had initially shocked him: 'I hated that. So my MO from then on was always accessibility … to allow the ordinary viewer to appreciate art. So for me, it's brilliant, it's perfect.'
