New Curator appointed at the KZNSA
by Francesca Verga
Together with the new-look logo and the recent name change, the KwaZulu-Natal Society of Artists (KZNSA) Gallery has appointed a new curator, Nathi Gumede. I met with Gumede in the suitable setting of the gallery's Arts Café to chat about his future plans and his new role as curator. Gumede has worked as assistant curator alongside Storm Janse van Rensburg at the KZNSA since 1999.
The KZNSA is Durban's foremost contemporary art space and is the only purpose-built art gallery in the country. The Gallery is largely funded by the hugely successful gift shop and café with which it shares premises. The Gallery and the KZNSA as an organisation are also involved in numerous projects, which form part of their Training Arts Programme that facilitates training and outreach within various local communities. The interaction with and profiling of young and up-coming artists will continue, through the greatly successful Young Artists' Project (YAP).
As Gumede's appointment officially begins in January 2006, our discussion about his future plans was somewhat limited. However, he believes that his role as curator will enable and facilitate the KZNSA to reach a wider audience. His long tenure at the gallery, he feels, will provide him with the necessary support and guidance from the management of the gallery he needs to take on the new challenge as curator. He wished to express his gratitude to the staff and local arts community and looks forward to his new role.
Gumede hopes that his role as curator will afford him the opportunity to actively curate exhibitions, rather than simply managing existing travelling exhibitions.We look forward to seeing this take shape.
