Has being awarded with the Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Award had a major impact on your artistic direction?

I now see even more opportunities in the industry than I have ever thought of. As a female artist it opens more doors as people want to hear more from young female directors. It also gives me more confidence in the work that I do.

Do you think that artists need awards in order to stimulate artistic production or to validate what they are trying to communicate?

Yes I definitely think there should be recognition for people's work, in that way we are able to learn from those people who are acknowledged. As a young girl watching people receive awards for their work I was forced to find out what made them special and to find out more about their work. I believe that the more we support each other as artists the more the industry will grow. If there were no awards I don’t think we would recognise a lot of people’s work.

What makes the Standard Bank young Artist of the Year Award so prestigious?

The Standard Bank Award has been around for many years. The great artists who have received this award have continued to produce amazing work. That gives me a lot of hope for the future. Their commitment to supporting the arts is evident in all the different projects they have done for this country.

Your interest in Drama started at a very young age, was Drama offered as a subject at the school in which you were enrolled, or were you introduced to this art form through alternative avenues?

We didn’t have drama as a subject in high school. I joined the Witbank Youth Theatre in my high school year because I knew I needed to release the passion within.

Did you study Drama after school?

After high School I went to Tshwane University of Technology to do my Degree in Drama.

Did you get a ‘lucky break” or is your success a result of a lot of talent and even more hard work?

Some people may think that I have been getting lucky breaks but I know that I work really hard, and plan ahead so that when the time arrives I will be ready for it.

You have made a name for yourself as a Director, Actor and Writer; does your proficiency in all these different roles on and behind the stage enhance your overall expression?

Definitely I think being an actress before I directed prepared me for the directing world. When I went into directing I knew how an actor wanted to be treated which helped me in bringing the best out of them. Directing other playwrights work before I decided to write my own has helped a lot. I’m still new in creating my own work but it’s a step I needed to take for my artistic expression.

Are there specific themes or issues that interest you as more than others?

I like to focus on any issues that affect society. Whether it’s in a good or bad way I feel that it’s important for me to use theatre address these issues.

Would you ever consider collaborating on a project that reflects belief systems that contradict your own?

I always try to allow space for artistic growth and also challenging myself in the process to explore other beliefs.

A performance of your work will be presented at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown this year, which ‘hat’ will you be wearing-that of writer, performer , director or all three?

I’ll be directing a piece called “Trapped” which I have written. So I guess I will be wearing two hats in Grahamstown.

Would you be able to give us a sneak preview or broad outline of the plot or message of this production?

Everyone wants to be free. Free from pain, free from suffering, free from destruction, free from rules, free to choose, free to move, and free to be. In a world only known to them we hear the stories of those torn between the past and the demand of living in the present. As they try to find ways and seek guidance from others to break the chains that keep them from moving forward. We meet characters like Diva, Woman, Tata, Mr Personality, The Soldiers, The twins, all presented by the Extra’s in exhibits. Universal topics are explored, topics that can make one feel like they are Trapped with no way to get out. What they don’t realise is that they truly have all the freedom in the world, to do, be and have anything they want.

Unfortunately there are rules, some rules may make one feel like they are trapped in a straight-jacket which keeps them from fully engaging in life. It’s a tough world, its either they follow the rules or they make their own.

Described by many as a pioneer South African artist, Gerhard Bhengu possessed a remarkable artistic skill which attracted wide attention from a largely white patronage who commissioned works which portrayed a range of topics from religious imagery to portrayals of rural life and culture. His watercolour and sepia ink works demonstrate a high level of technical skill and is most evident in his character studies of old men and young children who are usually portrayed in tribal dress. He also produced a number of landscapes of the KwaZulu Natal countryside which depicts aspects of traditional rural of Zulu lifestyle.

This painting is not similar to many of the other landscape paintings in the Standard Bank Corporate Collection where the manner in which the landscape is represented, it conforms to prevailing fashionable trends, which are at certain times faithful renditions or views representing idealistic environments executed according to the pretentions of the artist or patron. Bushfire has an unsettling atmosphere and seems somewhat ‘out of place’ among the other landscapes which all depict seemingly peaceful and idyllic rural or semi rural environments. The image depicts a dramatic rendering where small figures are raging against an overwhelming sea of flames represented by wildly agitated brushwork in vivid oranges, reds and yellows. The action takes place in a scenic landscape where the colors of the brightly colored towering flames contrast vividly against the backdrop of the scenic mountains and dramatic sky.

The people represented in this landscape are dwarfed by their surroundings and seem unable to control the natural splendor which they inhabit. Seen against the background of the political era during which it was produced, the runaway veldfire could be seen as a symbol or metaphor for the manner in which the original inhabitants of the KwaZulu Natal area had lost control over this resource, embodying their economic and political disenfranchisement.

Stylistically this particular painting is also much more expressive with more aggressive mark making rather than the detailed, polished look of his other works, it may represent other than the obvious subject matter, an alternate undercurrent or veiled meaning .

Explore the people of Swaziland and their art - available at the Standard Bank gallery .

Beads: more than just art

Amongst the many attractions on offer in Swaziland are unique art objects ranging from decorative features to sculptures, baskets, pottery, jewellery, clothing, glassware, and much more. Most of these objects originated from crafts that have been practised for generations in this country. The Swazi are well known for their attractive utilitarian objects such as combs, dolls, headdresses, headrests, ritual objects, snuff bottles and a range of weaponry, all of which are sought-after collector’s items.

Intricate beadwork also features prominently in the country’s art production. Intended as adornment, beaded items also designated the social and marital status of the wearer. A newborn child would, for example, be welcomed into the world with “lucky” beads placed around its waist, wrists and or neck. Beadwork also served as `love letters’, where different beaded patterns represented different stages in the couple’s courtship.

Personal adornment seems to have a high importance to the Swazi and is possibly most evident during two important annual ceremonies, the iNcwala (First Fruit Ceremony), and the Umhlanga (Reed Dance), where elaborate feathered headdresses, jewellery and dress feature prominently. (See www, everyculture.com)

Women may possibly be the most prolific art practitioners in Swazi society as they create objects originally intended for everyday usage, but this has now formed the basis for a thriving craft industry.

Women as stewards of Swazi arts and craft

Formal and informal sectors exist within Swaziland’s handcraft industry; many organisations actively promote the craft and tourism industries. The Tintsaba Crafts Cooperative, for example, established a rural project in the 1980s and has worked with women’s groups to produce and market quality crafts enabling them to sustain themselves without having to leave their homes.

Generations of women have used different types of grasses to craft baskets, which had very little decoration and which served various utilitarian purposes. Some of these tightly woven baskets were so intricately woven they became watertight and were used to store liquids; the natural fibre absorbed some of the fluids, while keeping its contents cool upon evaporation.

The women at Tinsaba have taken the intricate art of weaving a step forward; they use sisal, a pervasive local plant and add colour by using eco-friendly dyes. Harvesting sisal does not threaten the country’s natural biodiversity.

It takes at least 15 hours of preparation and another 15 hours of weaving to produce their unique colourful baskets. These and various other art objects are marketed globally, and have earned Swaziland a fine reputation in the international art and craft market.(see www.tinsaba.com and www.gonerural .com).

African Dolls

Pictured here is an African ‘doll’. It is used just as it would be in Western society, where children mimic nursing and caring for infants. They are also used by adults in the performance of specific local, and often ancient, rituals.

These dolls are widely collected and have become increasingly popular; and have also gained the recognition they deserve as works of art.

Ceremonial uses

The Umntfwana is similar to other fertility dolls. They are made by women and have a ceremonial uses related to maturation and identity.

Apparently young Swazi women used them to register their intention or wish to marry to a young man of their choice to whom the object would be presented. Accompanied by family and friends the young girl would often publicly present the object to a prospective partner; acceptance would be signalled by the prospective groom wearing the umntfwana from his waist.

It is also thought that these objects were offered to prospective husbands to represent or evoke possible future children.

Form versus function

This Umntfwana is an elongated figure; the limbs here seem to be represented by animal hairs skilfully bound at the top with a thick coil of wire. Just below the binding equal lengths of white beads are strung onto the hairs making up the body of the object.

Hundreds of red plastic beads are threaded onto the top of the doll, resulting in what resembles a head or mop of hair. Coarse flat fibre completes the design and forms a loop, which can be used to tie the figure to a person’s waist. This object’s stylised, simplified form has been enriched with the rich textural contrasts evident in the variety of natural and synthetic materials used.

Contrasting bead colours enrich the visual appeal of the object. The red head area contrasts richly with the white beads used in the body area, the eye is further led through the object by the repeated use of red, green, yellow and blue strands of beads that hang from the ‘neck’ of the figure. The coloured beads contrast with the fibres and animal hair used, adding richness to the overall visual impact of the object.

The Umntfwana dolls are used in many ways aside from their commercial, artistic charm. Unfortunately, there is not a lot written on the Swati people and their artefacts. Please let us know if you have some research you can add.

Who is Bridget Baker and what is behind her fascination with the working classes’ manual labour expression in her art?

Born 1971 in East London, Bridget Baker was educated at the universities of Stellenbosch and Cape Town. She has worked mostly within the realm of installation, incorporating photography, video, some craft forms, and documenting her public interventions.

This award-winning and internationally renowned artist’s episodic artworks speak about direct childhood experiences and the general contemporary existence through hyper-realistically reconstructed performance art pieces. Initial concerns regarding the elitism connected to the fine art world led to Baker using household materials and techniques such as weaving, knitting and sewing (all associated with domesticity) to flout ‘high art’ conventions.

Her performance art engaged a broader audience in public spaces, while more recent work reflects her cinematographic expertise in photo stills that display dramatic gesture and strong lighting effects. Her background as a movie stylist and her interest in 1950s movie genres clearly inform her hyper – realistic photographic narratives.

Early Performance art

Initially Baker created work that obsessively referenced autobiographical memories using devices such as smell, for instance Vicks Vapor Rub in So it Goes (1996). She consciously creates work about her past and childhood, using performance art to transcend the boundaries of meaning and myth, reality and fiction.

Baker used performance for the first time in 2001, sitting in a window of a dry cleaner’s store in Stellenbosch, laboriously die-cutting locally sourced ATM slips into the shape of acorn leaves, simultaneously involving passers-by in the process. This marked the beginning of the Official BB Project, which involved interventions in public spaces to highlight how bureaucracy attains more credibility through personal actions.

Baker says she wanted to create a vehicle through which the mundane could be made more meaningful, as illustrated in the Official BB Mittens Project (2003), which saw unsuspecting visitors receiving a warm hand-wax treatment through a hole in the wall.

Only You Can©

The autobiographical thread present in her work, represented through art products such as embroidered facsimiles of academic and other certificates from her school years, gradually made way for the process wherein she confers authority on her chosen subject using her trademark phrases, “Bridget Says” and “Only You Can”.

These phrases act as tools of authentication for the mundane acts Baker elevates to art in her pieces. Documenting these elaborately staged and photographed pieces simultaneously creates new realities while eroding existing preconceptions.

Her fascination with the working classes’ manual labour finds expression in her art, which reveal a labour-intensiveness bordering on obsession, present from her earliest intricately embroidered pieces to her later, large-scale, episodic production pieces shot on location across the globe.

Conclusion: Baker has no formal studio space and creates her art and sources her collaborators where required, often on-site, stating that ideas manifest differently in alternative environments.

Visit www.bridgetbaker.co.za to view a wider selection of her works.

Have you ever come across the trademark, 'Only You Can'? Here's an exploration of the artist and her outstanding artwork, 'Blue Collar Girl' .

'The Blue Collar Girl (Maputo)' forms part of a series of photographic stills developed by Bridget Baker. Baker relates that the “sensible woman” was her subject; she “entices her into leading a double invisibility” by letting her “undertake various invisible tasks which could make her invincible”.

Each work is created by crafting intricate objects to produce photographic stills of carefully directed installation projects. Iconic characters are used in different settings to illustrate issues concerning the mundane nature of adult responsibilities, especially those related to manual labour.

Feminine characters carry out physically demanding and even potentially dangerous work in scenes of manual labour, Baker refers to the manner in which women found a new expression outside prescribed societal roles by assuming labour roles previously reserved for men only.

The project involves the placement of the character in the locations, which reflect her creative force and status as a blue collar worker, transcending geography as she is identified by her blue uniform, burgundy nails and the careful styling present in each scene.

The trademark 'Only You Can' © is left behind in a different form in each location marking her existence, thereby liberating the collective character and individual - Blue Collar Girl.

The act of branding or ‘tagging’ public space is repeated throughout the series.

Blue Collar Girl Maputo sits in a colonial-style bar, writing; her black and white photograph seen in the Cape Town piece blends with the bars’ collection of jazz-era images.

She is barely perceptible in the next scene, which continues abroad a partially submerged ship, where she can be seen welding. Her trade mark message 'Only You Can' © is depicted, traced in the dust of the shipwreck.

Blue Collar Girl wears a chroma-key blue coat. Chroma is a process where a subject is removed from a particular scene, enabling special effects. This is the process that makes Wonder Woman fly; Blue Collar Girl doesn’t fly but she can be ‘keyed’ out illustrating her precarious existence.

Bridget Baker uses the medium to create an illusion of hyper-reality while simultaneously eroding it through the elaborately staged and calculated visual construction. These scenes conveniently transport the viewer to a period in history, which may never have existed, but comes alive through its lush, exquisitely styled colour scenes, creating multi-layered personal, witty narratives.

Have you ever wondered about the origins of Zulu people's art? Here's some background...

Beading

Political finery held great importance in the kingdom of the AmaZulu, so artisans used imported materials such as brass and glass beads traded from Arabia, and later British sources, to craft objects made exclusively for royalty. Certain materials denoted rank; only the king could wear large beads, while women from his royal enclosure wore brass neckbands, beaded necklaces and waistbands of red, blue and white beads.
But colonialism shifted patterns of traditional Zulu life and by the early 20th Century beading had lost its royal status. “Commoners” started using beads to fashion loincloths and necklaces previously woven from grass and other fibres.

In the not too distant past Zulu women rarely worked in the cities and were urged by absent husbands to observe and protect traditions, leading to beadwork becoming a thriving art form, with a series of regional variations in the use of colour, pattern and style. The Zulu people are renowned for their intricate beadwork, which carries symbolic messages of love, peace and fertility through a range of geometric patterns. A well-known item is the Ibeheqe (generally sold as a love letter in souvenir shops). These narrow rectangles incorporate a geometric design composed of triangles in various combinations relating to male/female relationships. Typically a rural girl would send this to a young man working in the city if she had not heard from him for a long time.

Traditional Zulu art evolves

By the late 20th century the artisans that remained after the disruptive population shifts bought on by European colonialism carved meat plates, milk pails, walking stacks and headrests for general consumption and the growing curio market. Other items such as woven baskets and clay pots, which were produced for domestic and ceremonial purposes, also gained commercial popularity.

Headrests

Headrests, used as ‘pillows’, which served as stools all have a concave form; this gives them a common character and they resembles the stylised legs and tail of cattle, symbolically evoking associations with the ‘great herd’ (synonymous with wealth).

The animals provided a means of making contact with the ancestors while sleeping, resting with the neck in the hollow base of this unique pillow.

Traditionally a Zulu woman commissioned two headrests before her marriage; one for herself and one for her future husband. Although these headrests could be identical in design, a woman might choose to acknowledge her husband’s status by giving him a more elaborately carved headrest than her own. The headrest formed part of the bride’s dowry and would be regarded as a link to the spirits (amadlozi). Headrests are not commonly commissioned these days; they are often buried with their owners and many have however been preserved as ancestral relics.

The style and decoration used on these objects vary widely; the most common being the ‘amasumpa’ design, known as ‘warts’. These raised areas represent cattle and bear some resemblance to a cow’s udder. Chevron patterns abound, the repeated V-shape possibly referring to snakes, and most patterns are linked or are related to fertility. These adorned the surfaces of a vast array of crockery and ceremonial vessels.

Clay pots

Clay pots were traditionally made exclusively by women who produced items of rare beauty using very basic resources.

Black beer pots for the ancestors

Only the drinking and serving vessels used in Zulu beer drinking ceremonies are given a second, carbonised, firing to make them black. This strengthens the vessel and is a ritual to honour the ancestors.
Cooking pots were generally made with coarse red clay and were left unbleached and unpolished.

A case for baskets

There are five basic designs for Zulu baskets produced with materials such as dried grass, thin rushes and, more recently, telephone wire. Baskets were utility items in all rural homes, from the most royal to the most humble. Originally they were fairly plain, decorated with restrained self-weave patterns or limited colours, usually black or red. The varying colours of the geometric designs were achieved by dyeing the weaving materials with berries, roots and flowers.

From utility to commercial art

Beaded items and the other functional art pieces produced by the Zulu people were overlooked for many years as they did not conform to the accepted norms of what constituted art. Today, however, Zulu art objects fetch high prices and are represented in local and overseas art collections and a thriving commercial market exists for the production of these goods for the local and tourist market.

As part of our African Collection, you can explore the art and history of Zulu stick-fighting and 'Izinduku'...

‘Induku/Izinduku’ means stick or sticks in the Zulu language. Izinduku are used in a fighting art that is practised by Zulu people and others from the Nguni tribes in South Africa.

These two pieces form part of the Standard Bank African Art Collection. One is surmounted by a male figure and the other by a baboon. They were accorded an illustrious history by their previous owner who claimed that they were trophies looted after the Battle of Ulundi during the Anglo-Zulu War. These objects may have been commissioned by chiefs or other dignitaries, but were more than likely to be carved for sale to European buyers passing through KwaZulu-Natal at the turn of the 20th Century.

Traditionally, at the age of 16, a boy’s father would take him into the forest to cut his own fighting sticks (izinduku). Decorations are put on for aesthetic purposes, as well as to identify different clan members. These sticks were usually stored on the roof of the house and were carried for self-defence. A man may own several pairs.

The two sticks (izinduku) are made without a knob and carved smooth. The circumference increases from top to bottom and they are generally about 88cm long (this sometimes varies and is adjusted to the individual’s strength and size). A strip of cowhide is often tied around one end to secure the fighter’s grip and a cow’s tail could be tied around the bottom to hide the sharp point.

The stick featuring the male figure was carved out of hard wood, evident in its dark patina while the baboon -headed staffs seems to be made out of blonde wood. Both have a smooth, polished appearance with simple planar detail. The form, although carved in the round, seems almost two-dimensional, a feature probably dictated by the natural form of the branch.

Similar sticks exist in art collections in South Africa and overseas and all are attributed to the `Baboon Master’ who apparently worked in the Pietermaritzburg and Durban area in the 1880s and 90s. This master carver always carved staffs incorporating the form of a baboon into the handle as well as staffs with single African male and female figures.

Inyanga or iSangoma would sprinkle charms (Intelezi) on the fighters and their weapons before the battle to help counter evil. These were cleansing rituals and were meant to strengthen the warriors. Some Intelezi is said to cause dizziness, strokes, or impair the vision of an opponent. Snake venom and menstrual blood were often used because they were deemed a suitably dangerous stratagem. Stick-fighting helped young boys learn about their roles in traditional society - older boys and young males would often spar at public ceremonies and festivals. It is still however seen as an undesirable activity for females to stick fight; if they do misfortune is said to fall upon them.

The izinduku contained in the Standard Bank Art Gallery collection are not traditional artifacts; they have lost their original function and instead were carved for aesthetic reasons and to satisfy the lucrative, emerging curio market at the turn of the previous century. These items do not present traditionalist art, but should rather be seen as representative of the dynamics present during the early history of African urbanisation.

Here's a textual tour of the Fon People of Benin and their fascinating beliefs, culture and inspiration. The artwork can be found in the African Collection at Standard Bank Gallery

Some of the most elaborate court art in Africa comes from the country of Benin - home of the Fon People. Here brass plaques decorated palace walls, terracotta and wood, while brass figures representing male and female royal ancestors were placed in memorial shrines.

Iron-working was fundamental to the rise of these kingdoms, which attributed spiritual qualities to metal and to the objects forged from it. Highly skilled artisans, believed to have possessed supernatural powers, were admired and feared. They produced sculptural pieces made using the lost wax technique, where objects were moulded in wax and then cast as sculptures in iron or bronze.

Imagery such as leopards, crocodile and fish were used to portray royal power and to reinforce moral laws. After colonisation by the British, these symbols - especially the fish motif - were linked to Christianity, and became infused with personal meaning.

The Asen or staffs, and figure posts or Bocio, were originally displayed in royal compounds to affirm royal power and served to commemorate past rulers. Later two types of Bocio co-existed – those that served to protect the king and bolster his authority (royal Bocio) and those carved to serve the community (non-royal Bocio). Royal pieces were attractive, ornamental, refined, and decorative, in contrast, the bocio of commoners are disorderly, rough and incomplete and seem anti-aesthetic.

Bocio means “empowered” (bo) “cadaver”(cio) in the Fon language and were considered empowered objects working with the energies of the gods and spirits (vodun) to protect against evil, sorcery, illness and to provide power and success.

Empowering materials - metal, beads, bones, fur, feathers and blood - believed to be sacred, were selected for their physical and symbolic potency. Materials and techniques are deliberately revealed in these figures to make the object visually powerful. Shocking and astonishing grotesqueness become the objects’ strength. These sculptures did not represent specific spirits but were intended as a repository or decoy for a spiritual force. Fetishes featured prominently in the art of the Fon and were often used on altars and anointed with sacrifices. Freestanding sculptures of couples also feature in their art and represented spirits, ancestors or the primordial couple; these were placed in shrines and were treated with great respect.

Family or ancestor worship is central to Fon religious and cultural beliefs and even though many converted to Christianity after British colonisation, the majority continued to practise voodoo/vodun rituals (vodun means spirit/ancestor in Fon). The art objects made by the Fon reflected these beliefs and religious practices, which focused on revering ancestors. Today, as in the past, their benevolent protection is sought through yearly offerings made to bociod fetishes as well as family Asen, which continue to act as a symbolic ‘assembly point’ for the physical and spiritual world.

The Water, the [Delicate] Thread of Life drew to a close this month. Here's what curator, Marion Dixon had to say in reflection...

Do you think that you were successful in getting your intended message across to the viewers?

The response from visitors to the exhibition, at times highly emotional, would suggest that they came away with the view that water is much more than a physical requirement, that it is fundamental to life in all its manifestations: physically, spiritually, metaphorically and socially. Water is indeed the delicate thread of life.

Was the work easily accessible and easily understandable to those who do not necessarily possess the means to interpret works of art or visit art galleries?

Water, the [Delicate] Thread of Life, featured some 30 different artists, with artworks ranging from 'traditional' black African art used in spiritual practice to contemporary sculpture, video art, paintings and installations. It was however most gratifying to see how well visitors, including school children, responded to the different artworks and, in particular the conceptual site specific artworks such as Willem Boshoff's Walking on Water (2011), Karel Nel's, Reflective Field (2011) and Marcus Neustetter's And Yet it revolves, Galileo, Galilei (2011). With water as the common thread, it was perhaps also easier to make a reading of the artworks on show.

The exhibition aims to enlighten the public about the fragility of our natural resources, are you aware of any initiatives around this issue - to preserve and protect our resources that have been undertaken by the Standard Bank Art Gallery and other sponsors of the exhibition?

Standard Bank implemented a comprehensive water awareness programme for its employees that began prior to the exhibitions opening, and a range of other initiatives, including an advertising campaign that ran concurrent with the exhibition. The responsible management of water resources is also a very topical subject and the exhibition received considerable media coverage on radio, television and the print media. There were no other sponsors of the Water exhibition other than Standard Bank.

What inspired you to interpret the exhibition in the manner that you did?

During the early stages of the research process I realised that the preservation, management and nurturing of the planet's vital water resources was essential far beyond the necessity of clean drinking water. It is vital to provide water to all human life on earth and to the more than one billion people who do not have access to clean water, without harming other life forms on earth. But water is far more than that; it is also the concept that links us with the idea of life.

What ultimately inspired the curatorial vision of Water, the [Delicate] thread of life, was again coming across Deborah Bell's Crying Pots (1998) and realising that water is even the substance of tears, a peculiarly human and primordial response to emotion.

Was there any specific reason for commissioning only certain artists to produce site-specific work for the exhibition?

Many artists were invited to participate and in many instances artists had work suitable for the exhibition. The artists who specifically wanted to created artworks for the exhibition were prepared to do so at their own expense.

How did you go about brainstorming for the exhibition, what was your original brief and how much freedom were you given in your response to it?

The brief was to come up with a concept for an exhibition focusing on water and the environment - and a name for the exhibition. If my proposal met with the approval of the gallery, I was to curate the exhibition. As curator I was given the freedom to choose the artists and artworks that met with my curatorial vision, and apart from costly practical or logistical considerations, I was given complete creative freedom.

How long did it take you to put this exhibition and the accompanying catalogue together?

Standard Bank originally approached me in March 2010, but due to the World Cup 2010 I was only able to present the concept in August last year. Then the project was put on hold until December 2010. Being the eternal optimist, I continued to work on the exhibition as best I could and I was given the go-ahead early in December - but that meant that many contacts and artists were having a year-end break. The project went full steam ahead from about mid-January 2011, the copy for the catalogue was written and edited in a very short time and handed in mid-April for layout, reproduction and finally printing of the catalogue. The final list of artworks with lender details was submitted on 15 May 2011.

You have put together an inspiring and very creative response to the general theme of water and the interconnectivity of it to all of Creation. Have you got any thoughts on how we as individuals could change or alter the current dire predictions related to the global environmental catastrophe that we have created?

The effects of climate change, the uneven distribution of water resources and the lack of clean water is a global problem and it requires a global effort to preserve and nurture life in all its forms on planet earth. It also requires each and every individual to value every drop of water and to respect one of the most miraculous substances on earth: water.

More than half of the over 1000 paintings and other two-dimensional artworks in the Standard Bank Corporate Art Collection portray the enduringly popular landscape painting genre. They nevertheless represent a microcosm of nearly 200 hundred years of South African art history, offering a range of views of this sub-continent by early Dutch and British settlers.

They depict scenes ranging from the unspoilt beauty of the land, through to the nationalistically inspired works of Pierneef and Coetzer, to the portrayals of postcolonial tensions of artists such as Sam Nhlengethwa, Willie Bester and Santu Mofokeng.

With the expansion of the Cape colony, came exploration, which saw the emergence of often self-styled artist/explorers. Their self-imposed task was to capture the pristine landscape even as it was forever altered by the expeditions they accompanied. Thomas Baines was probably the best known of the artist/explorers represented in this collection.

Fingoes Washing Sheep, 1849, depicts his intention to “making faithful representations of the general features of the country” and to “draw average specimens of the different tribes”. This piece depicts a rock pool framed by lush vegetation and surrounding hills. Included are the naked Fingoes (AmaMfengu, who settled in the Eastern cape after fleeing the Zulu Kingdom in the 1820s), in a pool of water, washing their sheep. Sluiceways channel water into the pool, indicating human control over natural processes. A clothed white man stands above the pool on a rocky outcrop with his arms folded, surveying the scene in a proprietary manner. The resulting effect is that of an African wilderness, ‘ordered’ and domesticated’ by a ‘civilizing’ western presence.

Baines’s use of colour and saturated rhythmic brushstrokes conveys the multitude of textures and patterns of the vegetation and rock formations. Various species of flora can be readily identified, but also simultaneously form part of a vast animated African tapestry rather than just a flat surfaced scientific study. His brilliant palette, of Prussian blue, Venetian red, crimson, emerald green and chrome yellow, communicates the harshness of the African light even as he describes the hazy sunlight filtering through the canopy of trees, and the softer washes of the subtly toned sky.

Baines sought acknowledgement as an explorer with the Royal Geographical Society rather than as an artist with the Royal Academy of Arts. This work nevertheless displays his artistic virtuosity with a carefully planned composition where trees are used to establish scale and lighter and darker active and inactive areas locate the focal point or depict receding distances. Due to the rugged nature of his travels many of his works were recorded in pencil and watercolour and only years later transferred into oils.

Asen are metal art objects created to honour the spirits of ancestors and deities and function as meeting points for the visible and spiritual worlds to interact in. Richly decorated with a variety of human, animal and plant motifs that illustrate proverbs, ancestral Asen reflect the relationship between the living and the dead through visual and verbal references to the deceased.

Metal votive offerings such as the one depicted here have been traced back to an era where they functioned solely in the context of Vodun (the Fon word for spirit). Later made for kings and the aristocracy they became increasingly common. Craftsmen making curio objects for the tourist trade during the 20th Century also made altarpieces for anyone who could afford it; figures were also made with sheet metal rather than in the traditional lost-wax technique.

This indicates colonialist influences in the materials used as well as in some of the imagery, which often makes reference to Christian motifs. This Asen does however reflect the skill of the craftsmen who forged the figures, disks and leaf shapes out of iron, which are all attached to the disk via small iron rings.

Extended families among the Fon people of Benin would own numerous Asen, or family altars, crafted from iron. They would be kept in a small building in the courtyard of the family house and tended by the eldest woman in the family. There would be an Asen for each ancestor, which served as line of communication between the living and the dead and to which offerings would be made and recognition rituals performed. After complex funerary ceremonies an Asen would be consecrated to the ancestor and regularly sacrificed to.

This particular type of Asen is called “AsenGbadota” or “Asen with a Hat” because of the flat dish surmounting the five vertical supports resembling umbrella struts, and which itself is attached to the end of a staff. The cut-out sheet iron figures on top represent the deceased and reflects their achievements and status within the family and community, often drawing on a pun or a proverb to make an observation of the individual during life.

This exhibition caters to a broad audience, and covers a wide variety of interests, it is therefore no surprise that it has drawn so many visitors to the Standard Bank Art Gallery. The tenuous relationship that humankind has with nature and its role as guardian of the environment are investigated through the works on show. Various themes are present, and are reflected through various areas of interest such as science, biology, robotics, the social condition, spirituality and environmental.

A performance piece by Neustetter: Action 1, created for the opening night, greeted the viewers as they were led along a tunnel against which water was being hosed, while Action 2, a work in progress, was being created in the downstairs space of the gallery. These two works as well as his installation 'And Yet It Revolves' - Galileo Gallilei 2011, celebrates the wonder of water while pondering man's impact on the environment. An interesting dialogue is set up by juxtaposing Durant Shilali's painting 'Kliptown Floods' next to Neustetter's installation, where man carries on with his daily tasks in spite of the devastation caused by nature.

The negative human impact on water is reflected strongly through Max Bannister's 'Return 2010', from his Plastikos series. Here the ever increasing swirling mass of plastic waste infiltrates our oceans and devastates its life forms, is depicted in a deceptively beautiful piece made up out of plastic bags that were found at polluted sites.

The South African context, as well as the destructive force of water, is portrayed in Andrew Verster's charchoal drawings and Noria Mabasa's wooden sculpture, all of which were produced in response to devastating floods in South Africa and Mozambique in the 1980's. Climatic change and its effects upon the population and the environment is further explored through Strydom van Der Merwe's photo documents of land art works, depicting drought conditions in South Africa.

Alan Crump and William Kentridge's contributions explore the manner in which the mining industry has affected our water resources and environment. While Norman Catherine's haunting Requiem, graphically illustrates the ultimate demise of humankind should - we continue to ignore the many warning signals.

Water, is explored in its absence and abundance and its spiritual dimensions through the inclusion of anonymous ‘traditional’ South African artists' work which investigate the connection of water to the conception of life, through to contemporary South African's concerns. Karel Nel's Reflective Field 2011, explores the refractive nature of water and light. The image of water is reflected on the ceiling by means of light and mirrors and is intended to allow the visitor to make deductions from the light reflections as to the nature of the source through which a mysterious, anonymous landscape is revealed.

Willem Boshoff's piece: Walking on Water 2011, where solar powered robotic insects walk around on the word water on a dry glass surface, alludes to the precarious state of the world's water resources. Living specimens of the insects, which inspired the robot's designs, are on display next to the water vortex exhibition in the downstairs area. Cyril Coetzee carefully selected botanical, zoological and geological specimens recalling the great Renaissance and Victorian curiosity cabinets. All the specimens are related in some way to water and express Coetzee's interest in the biomorphic state of art and organic growth. Specimens included in his installation include the evocative and complex hexagonal shapes and the spiral and helical growth patterns of mollusk shells. These shapes are all echoed in the works of Coetzee's Human River 2011 and Walter Oltmans Wire Shell 2011. The lino cut, Coelacanth 2010 captures the pathos of a creature that has survived for so long but now faces a precarious future.

The powerful statements made by the works in this exhibition leave the viewer with a definite realisation that we need to harness our collective creativity in order to restore the balance in Nature. This exhibition is a must-see for everyone

This piece, by Norman Catherine, graphically illustrates a toxic wasteland while informing the viewer of the devastation on the essence of all that sustains life on this planet, water. The current exhibition at the Standard Bank Art Gallery aims to highlight various aspects related to the effects of man’s interaction with nature and, in particular, with water, one of our most precious resources.

The centrally placed, disproportionately large, primitive male figure resembles a victim of genetic mutation, possibly caused by severe pollution, a result of it’s own doing. It’s dark, vacant eye sockets are set above a menacing grimace and exposes fish – like serrated teeth. A sense of impending doom is conveyed by the pathos evident in the scene. The stance of the anonymous figure standing in red, toxic looking water, cradling and looming large over a catfish held in its arms, creates a sense of unease. The anxiety present in the work is further emphasized by the lurid clashes of colour and hatched lines created by the sense of urgency resulting from the layering of the expressive mark making caused by the artist choice of medium.

A large section of the work featured in the exhibition Water: the [Delicate] Thread of Life revolves around spiritual iconography and investigates aspects central to the concept of water and its role in spiritual practices. Here, the Christian parable of the fish and the loaves and Old Testament or Jewish teachings relating to the 10 plagues visited upon Egypt during when water turned into blood, is called to mind. No miracles are depicted in the work, only the wanton destruction of God’s creation and mans’ primary sustenance featuring man as perpetrator and victim.

One of the most important characters in mukanda initiations represents the 'ideal woman' who is depicted as "fulfilled" woman, called Pwo, or a younger "potential" woman called Mwana Pwo. During initiation ceremonies women would escort the wearer of the mask to the center of the village, where she is received ceremoniously by the head of the village.

Pwo, the female role model, is a beautiful woman who speaks carefully and displays gentle manners, while assertively orchestrating specific songs, instructing drummers to accompany her dances on cue, and directing the public's response to the performance through hand gestures and implements which may include a whistle or a flywhisk.

Pwo is created by men and is performed in events related to male initiation, a male dancer represents this female role model and performs the ceremony, while wearing a costume with the mask which includes wooden breasts and a female bustle. Characterised by short steps and sensuous hip movements the dance performed during the ceremony is used as a type of sexual education presented openly to stress the fertility of this ancestral role model. Women accept this male concept of the ideal female, often dancing alongside them to test the skills of the impersonator. In order to emphasize her supernatural attributes as an ancestral spirit, Pwo sometimes dances on stilts or performs acrobatic skits.

Wood is used extensively in the making of masks, not only because of the abundant supply available in the areas where the Chokwe resides, but also because the carver believed that the tree has a spiritual soul and it's wood is the most natural home for the spirit in the mask

In addition to the complex braided hairstyle and metal coins used, decoration of the mask is extended to the bold expressively carved geometric facial features. Often used as a form of coded information parallel zigzag, cruciform, curved and spiral lines representing scarification marks or tattoos were frequently used to adorn the planes of the masks' face. The designs often denoted social status and were believed to have magical or religious powers. The facial scarifications below the eyes represent tears referring to the anguish mothers feel when they are ritually separated from their sons during the mukanda initiation. The forehead displays the chinge-lyengelye cross motif, a scarification design commonly interpreted as a Portuguese Cross of the Order of Christ.

Early 20th Century artists such as Picasso, inspired by the bold designs, collected African Tribal masks and used them to influence their own style. The tired tradition of figure painting in European Art was thereby refreshed but also resulted in the tendency to admire the bold designs and abstract patterns of African masks through European eyes, appreciated as exhibits on museum walls, cut off from their original meaning and magical power.

Source: "CHOKWE! - Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related Peoples"