Joubert Park Project counts down to lift-off
by Kathryn Smith
After more than a year of observing, assisting, discussing, participating and producing a range of work for the Joubert Park Project, artists associated with this public art-orientated attempt to bring attention to the Johannesburg Art Gallery and surrounding park are moving into the area with a vengeance. The show opens on October 13 with some 30 local and international artists on board for a multimedia extravaganza with a big social conscience.
The aim of the project is to support the development and rejuvenation of the precinct and to integrate the Johannesburg Art Gallery with its surroundings. Although marked by general urban decay, the park is one of the few "green" spaces in inner city Johannesburg and a vibrant centre of activities. Despite the increase in crime and lack of effective policing, it provides a meeting ground for religious groups and business territory for the park photographers and street vendors. It houses a medical clinic, greenhouse, Neighbourhood Community Centre and the Johannesburg Art Gallery and offers a place of recreation for commuters, children and chess players.
Initiated by Jack Mensink and his Artificial Shelter Foundation in The Netherlands, the project started in 2000 with a series of workshops with the park photographers and youths from the area, presented at an Open Day exhibition in December 2000. This first stage was primarily geared at researching the infrastructure of the precinct and forging important links with the existing constituency, such as the Neighbourhood Centre, the crèche as well as the quarterly Ziyabuya Children's and Parents Arts Festival.
Bié Venter has been involved with the project since its conception in 2000 and along with Dorothee Kreutzfeldt forms the core of a co-ordinating team, which developed a two-year public art programme. The team consists of highly motivated professionals from various cultural fields and includes Jo Ractliffe, Merryn Singer and Marion Shaer, Bettina Schulz, John Fleetwood and Rita Potenza. The fundraising process has not been without hiccups, with the launch being postponed several times. However, several of the international artists taking part in the project including Dias & Riedweg (Brazil/Switzerland), Sebastian Dias Morales (Argentina), and Cecelia Parsberg and Elin Wikstrom (Sweden) have been well taken care of - by comparison - by international cultural and educational institutions. The launch programme has been underway for some time now with a series of engaging performances and workshops focused on the youth in the park, addressing issues around self- expression, life skills, violence and recreation. At the same time, various collaborations aim to empower the photographers who work in and around the park by presenting skills development workshops to hone technical, marketing and business skills.
The opening performances on October 13 include fire sculptures by Brendhan Dickerson with accompaniment by Stompie Selibi; interactive karaoke with an open microphone (for those brave or inebriated enough) by Amichai Tahor; performances by Steven Cohen, Elu Kieser and Nomsa Dhlamini; and free manicures and pedicures for women in the park by Canadian performance artist Mara Verna.
Exhibition works include video-projections and photographic work by Terry Kurgan, Robin Rhode, Dias & Riedweg, Sue Williamson, Sebastian Diaz Morales and Sally Gaule and Susan Beningfield; sound and photographic interventions into the gallery's permanent collection by Kathryn Smith and Goodness Nhlengethwa; sculptural installations in the park including the work of Willem Boshoff, Moses Seleko and Michael Coombs and multi-disciplinary installations in the gallery, including collaborations between Jeanette Ginslov and Marcus Neustetter, and Rita Potenza and the Joubert Park Photographers.
Ongoing exhibition events to the end of 2001 include workshops for youths in movement, dance therapy, youth leadership and HIV/AIDS education, interactive exhibition walkabouts for school/holiday groups, tourists, sponsors, students, business and the public; special performance events by various artists including Anna Richardsdottir; and photographic and video-documentation of the project process since 2000 with short films on the park's religious communities.
One highlight of the programme is a project called 'Shade' by visiting Swedish artists Elin Wikström and Cecilia Parsberg. They will be initiating, connecting and expanding two networks, one in Johannesburg and the other in Umea, Sweden. At the same date and time, twice a week, 12 personalities from different locations and social contexts will engage in question and answer sessions on a mobile phone. In Johannesburg the event takes place at Joubert Park. In wintery Umea, people will meet at the Umea Public Bath.
The networks will expand in an exponential way: initially, six people will be invited to participate, each bringing a friend. At the next event the friends are the participants, bringing another person each. Loudspeakers will broadcast the telephonic conversations to people in the respective environments. Eventually, the network will include 216 people. As a third part of the exchange, Wikström and Parsberg are hoping to collaborate with local radio stations that will regularly broadcast parts of the conversations during the three months. They have a partner established in Umea, but are still trying to lock down a partner in Johannesburg.
The sheer quantity of participating artists and associated events of the JPP are daunting at first, but an event of this kind is unique to Johannesburg and probably the country. Three months of activities provides ample time from people in Gauteng and the surrounding areas to make their way to the JAG and the project, while fulfilling its many aims, will hopefully act as a barometer to track whether Johannesburg's art audiences can finally relax enough to eventually host popular events similar to the SoftServe and Red Eye initiatives.
More information can be obtained from Bié Venter on 083 728 5606 or Marion Shaer on 083 267 8315 or marion@shaer-theron.com.
JPP has been sponsored by the Anglo American Chairman's Fund, the Arts and Culture Trust, the Bag Factory, BASA, Beith, the Canada Council for the Arts, Friends of the Johannesburg Art Gallery, the Goodman Gallery, Graphic Wizard, Investec, the Johannesburg Art Gallery, the Market Photography Workshop, Mondi Rotatrim, the Mondriaan Foundation, Museum Africa, the National Arts Council, Primedia Outdoor, Pro Helvetia - the Arts Council of Switzerland and the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation, Proprint, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Sasol, Scan Shop, Total and Tradek.com.
Opening: October 13 at 4pm
Closing: End December 2001
