JOHANNESBURG ART NOW

Slide presentation

October 21, 1993

With a precedent set for various student‑initiated off-campus exhibitions and an influx of young artists from all over the country, a broader perspective was sought by the small art community in Durban. Frustration was expressed over the lack of an art press and an interest was affirmed in learning more about contemporary artwork outside of Durban. In response, an informal discussion and slide presentation was organized by the FLAT and presented by Carol Gainer and others, focusing on work exhibited in Johannesburg.
It was significant in that many young artists had seen little of contemporary South African artwork from outside the region exhibited in Durban, and also lacked the means to travel to Johannesburg. For many, unfamiliar with the work of such emerging South African artists as Belinda Blignaut, Marc Edwards, Allan Alborough, etc, it was an important affirmation of a growing interest in exploring new art forms. Recently, I discussed the value of such an event with Durban artist and lecturer, Virginia MacKenny, who was present at the slide show.

Allen:               What I think was interesting here was that it was a bunch of Durban people looking at Johannesburg artists’ work.
MacKenny:    It seemed to be a time when young Durban artists were making connections with Joburg artists. And taking work into there own hands. Previously it had always been lecturers going up, taking slides, coming back and dishing them out. The lecturers do it and the students do nothing.
Allen:               There seemed to be a certain amount of apathy amoungst students in that.
MacKenny:    Oh absolutely! And, what was nice about that show was that students had got off their butts and had done exactly that. Another thing is that students were making connections with Joburg artists that I had no access to. So I was getting more information. Instead of being passive and apathetic and letting the lecturers do all the work…there is that strong notion at Tech that the lecturers did all the work and the students tagged on…but no, there were individual endeavors happening…other people going out, making conversations and bringing things back.[1]

Additionally, it was a communal effort to address the need to continue one’s art education through self-initiative after university. Though the inclusion of an ‘educational’ component to programming was common to most alternative spaces, which offer ‘walkabouts’ and slide talks, the FLAT slide show was uniquely significant in that it was created spontaneously out of the direct demand of those who participated.

Allen:               Would you say that the FLAT, in retrospect, performed a social function [typical of institutions like the NSA] but that was not really made available by institutions like the NSA or the DAG [in terms of content anyway]?
MacKenny:    I wouldn’t even say in retrospect, I would say at the time I was very conscious that it was a very necessary thing. And that within that social interaction, very important things would happen. It seemed to me to be the most lively area of debate that was available.[2]