'Cape '07' ends: Where to from here?
by Tavish McIntosh
This article is following several interviews and conversations with the staff of Cape Africa Platform including curator Gabi Ngcobo and CEO Mirjam Asmal-Dik.
Whilst many were intrigued and charmed, others perplexed and some just frustrated by the 'Cape '07' production, the lessons learnt by the staff of the Cape Africa Platform from this inaugural event look set to take root. Asmal-Dik acknowledges that it would be easy for the organisation to lose momentum after the event. However she emphatically asserts that this will not happen. In-depth discussions are already under way within the organisation to analyse the exhibition - both its failures and successes - and to take these lessons forward. And whilst concrete plans are not available at present, ideas about the changes at Cape Africa Platform itself, the structure of the next 'Sessions eKapa' and the way Cape perceives its future are being developed.
In reference to the transition from 'TransCape' to 'Cape '07', Gabi Ngcobo states unequivocally ''TransCape' was a failure. But 'Cape '07' was a success.' A critical lack of funds was - as we know - at the heart of many of Cape Africa Platform's problems - it was also arguably a challenge that gave rise to 'Cape '07''s best features - the show become more 'playful and interesting' and the focus changed from the art itself to the crucial role of the public and the creativity of the artists. Despite this, the team was left with the foundation laid for 'TransCape' and Ngcobo acknowledges that in terms of artist selection ''Cape '07' was too safe. We did not take risks� What was missing was art in public spaces� where ordinary people can engage.'
Cape Africa Platform was granted money from the LOTTO funds in December last year - they are still waiting to hear more. The city also pledged money that never materialised. But according to Asmal-Dik the most upsetting feature of Cape's financial saga was the unwillingness of major corporations to support this venture. Asmal-Dik is optimistic that 'Cape '07' has proven the seriousness of Cape Africa Platform's intentions and provides the necessary 'track record' for the company to gain the trust of corporate sponsors. She is in talks with a number of different corporates brokering partnerships, but she notes that sponsorship of the arts is not a priority for these companies. There remains no concrete way to convince the public that the visual arts can be a catalyst for change. With this challenge in mind, the proposal is that the next 'Sessions eKapa' will be a small conference that focuses solely on interacting and learning from the corporate sector in order for CAPE and other arts organisers to learn how to court sponsorship and establish partnerships.
But Cape's promise to hold cyclical conferences that critically assess the exhibition and propose models for future exhibitions has not been forgotten. Cape Africa Platform's mission to reconnect Cape Town to the rest of Africa has resulted in a proposal to hold that critical forum in other African centres. The next fully-fledged 'Sessions' conference later this year might well be 'Sessions eMaputo'. Another city that is being bandied about is Luanda, whose triennale provides an important counterpoint to Cape Town's event. These 'Sessions' will provide a critical platform for research into the state of the host nation's visual arts and the development of important relationships. Issues around mobility across the continent will be key features of these discussions. When I challenged Ngcobo about the need to address local issues in the 'Sessions' forum, she unequivocally asserted that it is 'not the duty of Cape to carry those issues. There is VANSA' (the Visual Arts Network of South Africa). Instead, Cape Africa Platform hopes that these events will root the exhibition in the continent.
The company is proposing that future exhibitions will do away with appointing an outside Artistic Director with his/her own alternate vision about the role of mega-exhibitions. Instead the exhibition curatorship will remain within the scope of the internal staff of the Platform, ensuring that the company's own vision about their role in the cultural landscape of Cape Town is realised. In light of this, the research team takes on greater significance. Their brief remains focused on 'roots and routes' - re-connecting Cape Town with the rest of Africa and the diaspora, and locating the exhibition within the diverse aspects of the local landscape. The arts awareness programme, which gave rise to many of the 'XCape' interventions, will continue to be an important component and will play a greater role in the exhibition proper. With this experience under its belt, Cape Africa Platform projects that the exhibitions will become more engaged with the local public, and less 'safe' in terms of artist selection and curation.
Once the exhibition is taken down, there will be changes in the composition of the staff at Cape Africa Platform. Without having secured any funding as yet, the number of staff will have to be reduced and debts paid off. Despite this, Asmal-Dik says they are working on ensuring continuity within the company and core staff-members will go down to part-time work. Asmal-Dik is herself committed to continuing at Cape Africa Platform. Ngcobo, who took over from Gavin Jantjes as the chief curator of the exhibition, has been offered a post as Head of Research which she will consider when she returns from a two month residency in New York.
