Art in Clay

It was 77 000 years ago that the oldest known artwork in the world was made. And this piece of pottery is being celebrated in the month of October at art galleries across Franschhoek.

Art in Clay will see six galleries in the picturesque winelands town honouring the ancient work said to have been made by a woman while finding shelter in a cave in Blombos on the West Coast. Ceramic works by some of the country’s most well-known potters will be exhibited under different themes in each gallery.

The exhibition at La Motte Museum, Potters no Longer with us, will feature pieces by ceramic artists who made a significant impact on ceramics in South Africa. Works by Barbara Jackson, Bonnie Ntshalinsthali, Esias Bosch, Hyme Rabinowitz, Tim Morris, Sonja Gerlings and Marietjie van der Merwe will be exhibited alongside significant pottery pieces from Iziko and Ceramics SA.

Artefact, The Ceramics Gallery, Ebony, Grande Provence Art Gallery and IS Art will also take part in Art in Clay, with each gallery exhibiting different aspects of this delicate art form.

Special features of the Franschhoek initiative include a Pottery Fair in the grounds of the Franschhoek Dutch Reformed Church and pop-up Sunday lunches cooked by well-known chefs. Each of these meals will be designed to showcase and promote the use of ceramic dinnerware made by Western Cape potters.

More information: +27 (0)21 876 8850, museum@la-motte.co.za