The rugs that a dream team of South African Designers and contemporary artists have created for luxury lodge Molori Safari are almost too gorgeous to tread on.

The ultra-cool series of rugs that now electrify the living spaces of the exclusive Molori Safari in the North West’s Madikwe Game Reserve originated in the height of Covid.

It was during the constrained days of early lockdown that Megan Hesse and Andrea Kleinloog of design outfit Hesse Kleinloog decided it was time to create carpets as part of the interior revamp they were doing at the bush escape.

Not long into the refit, the team realised that round statement rugs would be a brilliant addition to the space. They’d work with the bones of the place, and complement the artworks going into the lodge from owner Ivor Ichikowitz’s impressive art collection. But round rugs are hard to get at the best of times in South Africa, let alone during a pandemic.

Never one to turn down a challenge, and working with Koos Groenewald of creative studio Jana + Koos, Andrea and her team elected to have the rugs custom-made by Brabetz Carpet Mill in Durban. They also roped in five other major artists to help them bring the huge pieces to life.

In hindsight, the task seems almost farcical: no-one was able to visit the mill during lockdown, and everything was done over video and phone. But thanks to some seriously hard work, ingenuity and graphic-design savvy from Koos and the carpet crafters, the result is six sensational works by Athi-Patra Ruga, Cameron Platter, Jody Paulsen, Maja Marx, Nabeeha Mohamed, and Koos too.

“We started this project in the deepest, darkest depths of Covid uncertainty, and it was such a spark of joy during such a dark time,” says Andrea. “In many ways, the absolute fun and frivolity of colour, and the joy of engagement, were so welcome in the disjointed, masked-up world.” Over the next few pages, the artists weigh in on this jump from canvas to carpet.

Nabeeha Mohamed’s Rug

“I thought the rug was way better than my original watercolour artworks!” says Nabeeha of a finished product that brilliantly captures her trademark bold work, which often depicts domestic scenes. “It’s a combination of three different artworks, and it’s been translated beautifully,” she adds, noting that, prior to this project, she’d never worked with carpets and didn’t understand the skill set that goes into turning a flat paperwork into a luscious and colourful artwork of this kind.

Athi-Patra Ruga’s Rug

Of this practical manifestation of his “Future White Women of Azania” performance art series and his 2013 tapestry work The Votive Portrait of Her, the much-celebrated artist says, “It has been a pleasure to see a work that was live performance art move into two-dimensional petit point. With the Molori collaboration, it moved into a large-scale beauty that employed elements of texture and colour. This stays true to our studio’s ethos of stretching ourselves over various media to access all audiences.”

Jody Paulsen’s Rug

Molori Safari’s main lodge features the riotous carpet version of Jody’s 2013 felt collage, Eat Me (Bananas). His focus on textile-based art meant that Jody had always wanted to try his hand at creating a carpet – and so the Molori project ticked that box. He hopes that this vivid and mesmerising yellow-and-black piece triggers “a feeling of joy and happiness”, and that in it, guests experience the same sense of charm evoked by the original artwork.

Majamarx’s Rug

A painter who has been working with visual language for many years, Maya found it interesting to “see an artwork transformed”, and was thrilled by the request to turn one of her pieces into a rug.

The inky-hued artwork that the rug riffs off was inspired by ribbons and the way they fall to the ground. “It’s about the power of line,” she says, adding, “I really love the way in which the quality of the line and the embossed quality of the rug came together.”

Koos Groenewald’s Rug

For his carpet, Koos put on his hat as an artist – “an official side hustle” to his job as one half of Jana + Koos. He used a mixedmedia artwork that incorporated cork, and which was lying around his studio, as the springboard for his flooring masterpiece. “I would love everyone to see the cheeky side of this rug,” says the mind behind the rug project of his textured creation. “It’s a little bit naughty and has a little bit of nudity in it.”

Cameron Platter’s Rug

The acclaimed KZN-based visual artist is used to working with various craftspeople to realise his pieces, but admits he was amazed and thrilled by the end result of the Molori endeavour. His rug depicts “a deconstructed lion going crazy on a dance floor”. “When I was approached to work on this project, I was over the moon,” he says. “Based on an artwork called A Night of Bliss, the rug takes from the original and makes it better!”

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Athi-Patra Ruga’s art comes into conversation with Irma Stern’s at the iconic painter’s former home in Irma & Athi… an intervention – an exhibition of contrary tendencies: admiration and disruption, colonial and queer, two-dimensional construction and complex destabilisation.

Since 2008, Ruga has been drawing on and reworking Stern’s most compelling paintings, including Watussi Queen, Swazi Youth and Zulu Woman. Now, the dialogue continues through an exhibition at the UCT Irma Stern Museum (ISM) in collaboration with WHATIFTHEWORLD where works of both artists are installed alongside each other, hoping to prompt a shift in the reading of both. 

Included are new site-responsive works that Ruga produced during a 3-month residency at the ISM, select loan works and iconic tapestries from the period 2009 – 2018 which reference paintings done by Stern during her 1943 and 1946 expeditions to central Africa. 

Attracted by Stern’s technical ability, lavish use of colour, her bold position as an Expressionist painter in the conservative South African art world of her time, and the atypical life she led; but acutely aware of her colonial viewpoint, Ruga casts a revisionist eye over her work to generate new interventions.

Principally, Ruga reassesses from a post-colonial stance, challenging and/or queering Stern’s romanticised and often two-dimensional constructions of Africa. For instance, he gives Stern’s nameless sitters – “Malay girl” and “Zulu Woman” – actual names and agency, disrupting the notion that their primary function was as a tableau for European contemplation and consumption. 

As part of the exhibition, Ruga will present a number of learner engagements and walkabouts – including an art-making workshop – that highlight the conversation he has been having with Stern and her art for over a decade. Booking is essential. 

The exhibition is currently open for public viewing and runs until 18 June 2022. For more information and dates for walkabouts and events, visit irmasternmuseum.co.za.

Looking for more local art? Sign up to our weekly newsletter, here, or take a look at our list of exhibitions and shows to see in 2022.

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Norval Foundation, situated in Cape Town’s Steenberg area, has reopened its galleries with a series of four exciting new exhibitions.

Having temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the art centre has once again opened its doors to the public, with social distancing measures in place. “The health and comfort of our staff and visitors is our main concern – all health and safety measures have been implemented in line with government regulations to ensure a safe reopening,’ says Norval Foundation’s Chief Executive Elana Brundyn.

The exhibitions feature works by renowned South African artists Athi-Patra Ruga, Zanele Muholi and Jackson Hlungwani, as well as new acquisitions added to the Foundation’s Homestead Collection.

“The transformative and enriching power of art is even more significant in times like these,” says Elana. “While we have all adapted to our new virtual lifestyles, it is hard to replicate the feeling of seeing a great work of art with your own eyes.”

The Alt and Omega: Jackson Hlungwani exhibition aims to pay tribute to the sculptor’s work and the way in which he integrated his heritage with global influences and thought systems from the Old and New Testaments.

Jackson Hlungwani – The Angel Gabriel (II) (1983)

In the Atrium, you’ll find Athi-Patra Ruga’s iiNyanga Zonyaka — The Lunar Story Book. The window vinyl, which is inspired by the stained glass seen in churches, is described by Norval as a translucent film depicting a visual narrative that “cross-pollinates through various time zones”.

In Gallery 1, visitors will find And then you see yourself: Zanele Muholi. “The exhibition follows a path leading from intimate snapshots, betraying personal notions of identity, to visually refined portraits of a shapeshifting, mythologised subject located in the public imagination,” states the Foundation. “It is a journey from private domain into public sphere. Throughout the exhibition there is a consideration, not just of Muholi’s identity, but of our own identities and the ways in which we construct them and change them based on who is looking.”

Zanele Muholi – Qiniso, The Sails, Durban (2019)

Divided into four thematic groups, Recent Acquisitions by the Homestead Collection showcases a new selection of pieces by artists from across the African continent, including Georgina Gratrix, Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Gerhard Marx, Pierre Fouché and Cinga Samson.

Visitors will need to purchase timed tickets, available online or upon arrival. For more information, visit norvalfoundation.org.

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For his new two-part solo exhibition, celebrated South African artist Athi-Patra Ruga has used stained glass as the medium and the mechanism for his masterful storytelling. 

For Interior/Exterior, Athi has created a series of stained-glass panels that question and reframe the “phenomenon of enlightenment”. Using a traditional storytelling medium that is so intrinsically linked to the church and theology, Athi subverts this associated morality by presenting new deities that would have been viewed as sinful and taboo within this context.

Swazi Youth (After Irma Stern)

These characters – taken from Athi’s Metaverse, fractured and captured in shards of colourful glass – are meant to be held up to the light; another deliberate act by the artist to reify figures that have been not just erased from history, but also lost to the public imagination.

Yellow Bone

Part 2, Dramatis Personae, unfolds as stained-glass tapestry. In this saga, Athi explores dualities – urban and rural life; traditional and modern identity – and the dreams and failures of a mythical Azania.

The tapestry entitled Ukutsiba uMgubasi, which translated means “ to jump/pounce the Porter/doorkeeper”, sees Athi’s young protagonist, Nomalizo Khwezi, one of the literary characters from the Lovedale Press collection, at the beginning of her Hero’s Journey, the stained-glass windows of a chapel in the background of the scene.

Ukutsiba uMgubasi

These tapestries form part of Athi’s Lunar Songbook Cycle (2018–), a trans-media body of work using motifs informed by astronomy and the Xhosa Calendar as expressions of more ecological ways of recounting time.

Athi is releasing a series of performance videos and conversations discussing his process through his multimedia channel APR Presents.

The exhibition is presented by WHATIFTHEWORLD, and will be available to be view at the gallery in Cape Town when the national lockdown is over. For now, check out Interior/Exterior ⁄ Dramatis Personae online at whatiftheworld.com.

Follow Athi on Instagram (@athipatra) and stay up to date with Interior/Exterior/Dramatis Personae content and news through @aprpresents and @whatiftheworld_gallery. 

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Two showcases, one in Cape Town and one in London, celebrate the work of artist Athi-Patra Ruga, who started his artistic practice 12 years ago.

In this video you get to explore both – Things We Lost in the Rainbow, a performance piece that played out in 10 locations across Cape Town, and Of Gods, Rainbows and Omissions, a solo exhibition currently on at London’s Somerset House.

Keep up to date with Athi’s latest work on Facebook.

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Renowned South African artist Athi-Patra Ruga recently held a much-anticipated three-month exhibition at WHATIFTHEWORLD, entitled Queens in Exile, an exhibition that will now be heading to Europe. Here, we talk to the artist extraordinaire about his inspiration.

Tell us about Queens in Exile.
Queens in Exile is centred on a new avatar called The Versatile Queen Ivy, who performs imaginary resurrections and has conversations with three historical figures: Senegalese dancer Feral Benga, Delmas Treason Trialist Simon Tseko Nkoli, and transgender civil rights activist Sylvia Rivera (to whom the title is attributed). After showing in Cape Town in its entirety at WHATIFTHEWORLD in Woodstock, the exhibition will move on for a European cycle in autumn.

What are some of the key themes explored in this body of work?
My work explores the human body in relation to sensuality, culture and ideology.

What is the exhibition composed of, and which mediums have you used?
It is a continuation of my multimedia practice, which is based on performance art, photography, video, printmaking, sculpture and the largest petit point tapestries to be shown in this country.

Tell us more about your use of colour.
Colour is a pacifier – it appeases. I wanted to make sure that my work is, at times, light-hearted. But I am mindful that there’s something dubious about too much colour, especially for adults. This vulnerability then becomes a subversive device through which I demonstrate the dystopian.

What inspired the pieces in this exhibition?
The drive for delivering superior critical concepts at a level of craftsmanship that cannot be duplicated, career stamina and impeccable work ethic. That is what inspires my objects.

What’s next for you?
Mastery.

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Renowned South African artist Athi-Patra Ruga will be showcasing a new body of work, entitled Queens in Exile, at WHATIFTHEWORLD until 27 January 2018.

“This isn’t simply a revisionist exercise, patching up inconvenient holes in the historical record,” says the gallery. “Instead, Ruga excavates collective memory and exclusionary national myth to rebuild both in wholly new shapes – to make a world where the exiled can reign. The result is a land of many queens, lost and found and forgotten.”

The exhibition, which aims to tell better stories, is the culmination of a three-year project between 2014 and 2017, including Athi-Patra’s 2014 exhibition The Future White Woman of Azania Saga.

Queens in Exile features a collection of hand-embroidered petit point tapestries, as well as a large-scale film projection entitled Over The Rainbow.

The exhibition runs from 29 November 2017 until 27 January 2018 at WHATIFTHEWORLD, 1 Argyle Street, Woodstock, Cape Town. For more information, visit whatiftheworld.com.

* Read our Q&A with Athi-Patra Ruga on pages 146 and 147 in the latest issue of VISI (93) – on sale now.

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The hugely anticipated first major museum dedicated to contemporary art in Africa, the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), is now officially open. Here’s what you need to know.

It’s been more than four years in the making and now the V&A Waterfront’s R500-million project to reimagine the historic grain silo into the world’s largest museum dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora has reached completion.

Aside from the breathtaking architecture, conceived by Heatherwick Studio, it spans seven floors and 6 500 m² with more than 100 gallery spaces – there’s a lot to take in! (Read architect Thomas Heatherwick’s Q&A here.)

Opening weekend, 22 – 25 September, has been divided into two-hour time slots. The organisers had some advice for opening weekend:

1. Have your ticket or membership card on hand

There are still some two-hour timeslots available on Webtickets (all the free slots are sold out) or you can get a ticket at the door. Each ticket has a specific time and date on it, so ensure you get there at the correct time. Members need to have their cards to gain entry one hour before opening on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

2. Be prepared

There’ll be hundreds of people wanting to get a first look so wear comfortable shoes and take along a bottle of water and snacks as you’ll have to wait in line. There is a coffee station in the gantry, but no food or drink will be allowed inside the museum. Only handbags are permitted so leave your rucksacks and day bags behind.

3. Get up to speed

Make sure to grab a map and programme that outlines all the floors and exhibitions (see opening exhibitions below) and choose the ones you’d like to visit first as you may not have time to wander through the entire building. If you’re unsure of which exhibit to visit first, ask one of the museum team members to direct you to a specific centre that peaks your interest, such as the Centre for Performative Practice, the Centre for the Moving Image or the Centre for Photography.

4. Ask questions

Once inside, you’ll be overwhelmed by all the art. Not to fear as Zeitz MOCAA team will be around if you have any questions. While you’ll be able to get the gist of an exhibition on your own, having someone provide context is invaluable. Plus, those questions you’re preparing to type into Google later? One of the friendly museum staff will probably know the answer. The curators and museum team love answering questions on their favourite subject matter so don’t be afraid to ask.

5. Buy a memento

Before you head home, pop in at the Zeitz MOCAA gift shop to buy something that will help you remember your visit on this historic occasion. Whether it’s a coffee table book or a T-shirt, your purchase will not only be a memento, but will also support the museum to help it stay open and bring new and exciting exhibits for visitors.

6. Consider a membership

If you loved your visit and plan to return, consider purchasing an annual membership to the museum. You’ll enjoy loads of cool benefits, including unlimited free access to the museum, a preferential queue at the entrance, discounts on selected items and special offers at the Zeitz MOCAA gift store and coffee shop, priority ticketing for special exhibitions and more.

OPENING EXHIBITIONS

Luanda, Encyclopedic City by artist Edson Chagas (Angola), from 22 September 2017 – 13 January 2018

iimpundulu zonke ziyandilenda by artist Nicholas Hlobo (South Africa), from 15 September 2017 – 30 July 2018

Wounded Negatives by artist Samson Kambalu (Malawi), from 22 September – 29 November 2017

LGBTQI+ by artist Zanele Muholi (South Africa) and then a new artist announced each month, from 22 September 2017 – 25 June 2018

All things being equal… by artists Athi-Patra Ruga (SA), Chéri Samba (DRC), Chris Ofili (UK), Cyrus Kabiru (Kenya), Daniella Mooney (SA), El Anatsui (Ghana), Frances Goodman (SA), Frohawk Two Feathers (USA), Gareth Nyandoro (Zimbabwe), Ghada Amer (Egypt), Glenn Ligon (USA), Godfried Donkor (Ghana), Hank Willis Thomas (USA), Hasan and Husain Essop (SA), Isaac Julien (UK), Jeremiah Quarshie (Ghana), Jody Paulsen (SA), Joël Andrianomearisoa (Madagascar), Julien Sinzogan (Benin), Kehinde Wiley (USA), Kendell Geers (SA), Leonce Raphael Agbodjélou (Benin), Liza Lou (USA), Lungiswa Gqunta (SA), Mack Magagane (SA), Marlene Steyn (SA), Mary Sibande (SA), Misheck Masamvu (Zimbabwe), Mohau Modisakeng (SA), Nicholas Hlobo (SA), Njideka Akunyili Crosby (Nigeria), Owanto (Gabon), Penny Siopis (SA), Rashid Johnson (USA), Roger Ballen (USA), Sethembile Msezane (SA), Taiye Idahor (Nigeria), Thania Petersen (SA), Wangechi Mutu (Kenya), William Kentridge (SA), Zanele Muholi (SA), from 15 September 2017 – 19 February 2018

Off-the-Air by artist Mouna Karray (Tunisia), from 15 September 2017 – 15 January 2018

Addio del Passato, Dusthouse by artist Yinka Shonibare MBE [RA] (England), from 22 September 2017 – 28 May 2018

Regarding the Ease of Others by artist Kudzanai Chiurai (Zimbabwe), from 15 September 2017 – 31 March 2018

Harvest by artist Michele Mathison (South Africa/Zimbabwe), from 22 September 2017 – 15 January 2018

Material Value by artist Nandipha Mntambo (Swaziland) 22 September 2017 – 27 January 2018

Now and Then: El Loko/Kyle Morland by artists El Loko (Togo) and Kyle Morland (South Africa), from 15 September 2017 – 27 August 2018

Going forward, daily admission is R180/adult and under 18s have free access. On Wednesdays, it’s free entry for South African and African citizens between 10am and 1pm, and on the first Friday of every month admission will be half price between 4pm and 9pm. Find Zeitz MOCAA on Instagram and Facebook.

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Fondation Louis Vuitton is synonymous with celebrating art around the world, while also providing a platform for emerging artists.

This time around, the Fondation shifts the narrative into Africa. Art/Africa, Le Nouvel Atelier is a three-tiered group exhibition, featuring both well-known and up-and-coming artists from Africa and South Africa.

The diverse exhibition works in three parts: The Insiders, Being There, and alongside these shows, Africa, a new hanging of selected works by the Fondation with a broader scope of African art and art within the diaspora.

Art collector Jean Pigozzi’s personal collection of artworks will be curated by the Fondation’s director Suzanne Pagé to introduce The Insiders. Jean collaborates with well-travelled pioneer André Magnin for the collection that will showcase the myriad of cultural and religious landscapes within Africa. This unique and strong collection, curated through years of travel and interaction with many Sub-Saharan artists, is aimed at celebrating the artworks of 15 artists, including photographers Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibe.

Complemented by Jean’s collection, Being There is a mirror of the inter-generational differences and similarities that exist between artists born and living within South Africa’s post-Apartheid landscape. Being the first of its kind, this show is about the dynamic vitality of the local art scene. The collection is curated by Suzanne, amongst others, and will feature the works of Jane Alexander, David Goldblatt, William Kentridge, Zanele Muholi, Moshekewa Langa and the new-generation of artists whose work confronts the reality of the post-Apartheid landscape: Athi-Patra Ruga, Buhlebezwe Siwani, and more. This selection of artists represents the diverse and complex web that ties and separates generations. Their art speaks to the personal and often misunderstood experience of identity and belonging, of artists having the difficult job of being activists through their work. The show space About a Generation continues the narrative and features photographic works from millennial artists like Musa Nxumalo, Kristin-Lee Moolman and Graeme Williams, who embody the space of the born-free youth of South Africa.

Beyond the exhibition, guests can expect a multi-disciplinary experience of music, poetry and literature, with a bilingual catalogue featuring texts from African writers.

This exhibition has set the tone for what can be done when global giants collaborate with artists, providing an excellent platform for nurturing and a deeper understanding of the artistic African narrative from different perspectives.

Art/Africa, Le Nouvel Atelier runs until 28 August 2017. For more information, visit fondationlouisvuitton.fr.

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According to Senior Art Specialist, Emma Bedford, the Strauss & Co catalogue provides a cornucopia of the best in South African art, from a rare casein by JH Pierneef to an early tapestry by Athi-Patra Ruga, all of which are coming up at Strauss & Co’s 14 March 2016 auction at the Vineyard Hotel in Newlands.

Headlining the international art is a unique drawing by Marc Chagall demonstrating once again this company’s global reach. Chagall’s Pour Gustave Zumsteg (R1 100 000 – 1 300 000) is dedicated to the proprietor of Kronenhalle, a legendary Swiss restaurant frequented by artists and luminaries of the beau monde such as Sophia Loren, Yves Saint Laurent and Rudolf Nureyev. The lot is accompanied by a commemorative book on Kronenhalle.

Maggie Laubser’s Birds and Boats (R700 000 – 900 000), an excellent example of her work, has a wonderful provenance, having been acquired directly from the artist by a close friend, whose family had lived for generations on the Lanzerac farm. Two glorious Hugo Naudé spring landscapes, awash with light and colour, were once owned respectively by a leading educator and a former sports star who played international rugby and led his cricket teams to victory.

Red Rock (R600 000 – 900 000), one of the most striking paintings by Walter Battiss ever to come to auction, draws on the artist’s studies of rock art that were to play such a major role in the development of his unique style. His research culminated in the publication in 1948 of The artists of the rocks.

In the remarkable life-size Sleeper Red (R800 000 – 1 200 000) William Kentridge pushes printmaking to the limits by using his own thumb and handprints to build up the textures of flesh. Younger artists like Ian Grose, Zander Blom, Dorothee Kreutzfeldt and Bridget Baker make a good showing and are expected to draw keen bidding.

The sale also features a broad selection of good quality decorative arts, furniture and jewellery; including four single owner collections. The first collection consists of nine pieces of historic Cape furniture which formerly belonged to Randlord Sir Lionel and Lady Phillips of Vergelegen and thereafter to Punch and Cynthia Barlow, who purchased Vergelegen in 1943 from Lady Phillips’ estate. Some were purchased in June 1941 when the contents of Vergelegen were auctioned. A significant piece is the 18^th century Cape stinkwood, satinwood and silver-mounted armoire, which is estimated at R600 000 – 800 000. Strauss & Co holds the auction record for Cape furniture, an 18^th century Cape coromandel side cupboard that sold for over a million rand in 2009. It is hoped that this armoire will achieve a similar result.

Visit straussart.co.za or call 021 683 6560 for more information.

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