30% of sales from online exhibition will be donated to Afrika Tikkun’s relief programme in local townships
With South Africa in lockdown and the dire need for collective action to assist residents of our under-resourced townships and informal settlements, Southern Guild gallery has launched Closer, Still – an online exhibition to raise funds for those hardest hit. The exhibition features work by 22 leading South African artists and designers, who have partnered with the gallery to donate 30% from each sale to Afrika Tikkun’s COVID-19 Relief Fund.
Through its Neighbour to Neighbour Support Programme, Afrika Tikkun has scaled up supplies of food, hygiene products and protective gear to vulnerable families in the Gauteng townships of Alexandra, Diepsloot, Braamfontein, and Orange Farm, as well as Mfuleni in the Western Cape. Drawing on decades of experience in distributing goods to communities during a time of crisis, it is collaborating with other non-profit organisations and community-based structures to ensure its impact is felt as widely as possible. While the provision of food parcels is not a sustainable long-term solution, it is an indispensable response to relieve the difficulties experienced during the current COVID-19 crisis.
This is also a critical time for our artists, whose voices need to be heard. Southern Guild was born from a desire to share their narratives and distinctive modes of storytelling. Each has something important to say about the state of our world, seen through the prism of their own culture and experience. They speak of resilience and restitution, heritage and reinvention, gratitude and wonder.
Closer, Still brings together artworks evoking romanticism and tenderness, such as Madoda Fani’s Zintle (Beautiful Girl) , Andile Dyalvane’s The Swan Moon Jar and the Loom Chaise by Nicholas Coutts. There are works that speak of ingenuity and rebuilding, making creative re-use of unusual materials such as conveyor-belt rubber (Xandre Kriel’s Techno Loafer) and bricks (Dokter and Misses’ Skip Lights). And our ever-present earth is an underlying current in so many works – David Reade’s Namib Landscape bowl and Conrad Hicks’ Copper Landscape Pair I, to name just two.
As an added incentive to support this initiative, a discount has been applied for all items on the exhibition (until 9 May).
Closer, Still runs from 9 April – 9 May 2020.
View the exhibition at https://southernguild.co.za/exhibition/closer-still/
ARTISTS:
Adam Birch
Andile Dyalvane
Atang Tshikare
Charles Haupt
Chuma Maweni
Conrad Hicks
David Reade
Dokter and Misses
Driaan Claassen
Ferdi B. Dick
Guy du Toit
Hamed Ouattara
Jesse Ede
Justine Mahoney
Madoda Fani
Nicholas Coutts
Otto du Plessis
Philippe Bousquet
Rodney Band
Stanislaw Trzebinski
Trevor Potter
Xandre Kriel
Xavier Clarisse
Zizipho Poswa
About Southern Guild
Southern Guild commissions, produces and exhibits contemporary collectible design by the most compelling talents in South Africa. The gallery has pioneered the collectible design category on the continent, propelling its artists and designers to make original work that is distinctly African and globally relevant. Founded in 2008 by Trevyn and Julian McGowan, Southern Guild’s rigorous curatorial programme has shaped the world’s perceptions of African design and forged a unique vernacular in the international arena.
Southern Guild
Silo 5
Silo District, V&A Waterfront
Cape Town, 8001
southernguild@theguildgroup.co.za
+27 21 461 2856
https://southernguild.co.za/
Facebook: SouthernGuild
Instagram: southernguildgallery
About Afrika Tikkun
Afrika Tikkun was founded in 1994 initially to serve the day-to-day needs of children but soon after, the organisation evolved into one focused on overall development. Renamed MaAfrika Tikkun and later Afrika Tikkun, its approach was refined and reformulated into the Cradle to Career 360° model. This model is aimed at providing education, health and social services to young people and their families through centres of excellence in South African townships. Its main goal is to create a sustainable future for the youth of South Africa and the credibility of this cause won the support of the organisations Patron-in-Chief in memoriam, Nelson Mandela. Since then, it have built 4 centres of excellence across Gauteng and 1 in the Western Cape.
https://afrikatikkun.org/
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