Following his tenure as gallery director of KZNSA, FNB Art Joburg’s gallery liaison and co-curator of gallery LAB, Kim Kandan, is on a mission to make this year’s fair “three days of the best in African art.” His co-curator, Esi Aida Hayfron-Benjamin is an independent curator from Trinidad and Tobago who works between Ghana, Nigeria and London. We chat about the importance of experimentation and play, collectives and collaboratives, and building bridges across the continent and the diaspora.
Tell me about Gallery LAB. Could you give a brief overview of the ethos behind it?
Kim Kandan: Gallery LAB started in 2019. It was a way of including galleries that didn’t form part of the mainstream gallery system. The fair, as I said, is focussed on the best of African art. So, it was a way to encourage and support the alternative exhibition models that exist in Africa. It is a place for these alternative models, galleries and collectives to play and experiment. The more galleries we have, the healthier the ecosystem. The LAB itself is about promoting these interesting models that you won’t really find in a main booth space. If someone’s paid R300K, R400K, they need to make their money back. Whereas LAB is a place for these interesting, alternative, explorative, new spaces to put on presentations that challenge the way art is shown, because we make it accessible for people. That’s the overarching theme of LAB.
Esi Aida Hayfron-Benjamin: I think gallery LAB is important because it exists in the framework of a commercial fair. If the goal for FNB Art Joburg is to represent the breadth of all the exciting work on the continent and diaspora, realistically, there are not enough galleries of that calibre that can afford to pay for a main section booth. We need gallery LAB, where the criteria for entry is not as strict. There is so much inspiring work on the continent, and I think gallery LAB is the necessary step toward inclusivity while meeting and maintaining the standard of the fair.
What can we expect for the 2022 edition of gallery LAB?
Kim Kandan: For 2022 specifically, Esi and I wanted to focus on collectives and collaboratives. This became a major thing during the pandemic. Certain parts of the ecosystem didn’t have access to a gallery that they were aligned to. They needed to make money in other ways. These collaboratives came together, and they became really successful. When you have a collaboration like that, it’s like working in a co-working space. You get the curatorial advice from your fellow artists, as opposed to working alone in the studio. You get critique. It fosters this more interesting, I feel, way of creating artwork. Especially on the African continent. The fair is about the best of Africa and making sure that there’s a space for Africa here at home. These types of innovative collectives belong here, because we want them to be.
Esi Aida Hayfron-Benjamin: I think, first and foremost, gallery LAB gives us the space to highlight what is going on on the continent. I think it is important also in the incubator aspect, because it’s very difficult to come into the art world. Not a lot of people know that it’s an avenue to have a practice, to make a living and be fulfilled. It presents art practitioners and curators across the continent and diasporas to get exposure in a way that doesn’t force them to be one thing.
Who will be participating this year?
Kim Kandan: We have ten galleries this year: Modzi Arts Gallery (Lusaka, Zambia), Suburbia Contemporary (Barcelona, Spain), Ora Loapi (Gaborone, Botswana), CHURCH Projects (Cape Town, South Africa), EBONY/CURATED (Cape Town, South Africa), Bubblegum Gallery (Johannesburg, South Africa), Village Unhu (Harare, Zimbabwe), Saint George Projects (Los Angeles, USA), Pacers Gallery (Lagos, Nigeria) and Citizen Projects (Accra, Ghana).
How is the space curated to foster exchange between these places?
Kim Kandan: Africa isn’t just about a continent. We have a diasporic footprint. We’re all connected. The LAB itself is its own pavilion in the fair. It’s a very open space that allows a lot of movement in, out and through. There’s a lot of exchange in that way. There’s also a dedicated roster of talks that will be for the LAB exhibitors. The gallerists and artists who are coming up in the industry could benefit from that kind of engagement.
Esi Aida Hayfron-Benjamin: A part of the curation was thinking logistically, how would we make this work? Beyond just putting together a presentation, an aspect of my role is to guide those who need guidance, those who haven’t shown at a fair before. Of course, we’re dealing with visas and making sure that everyone who can be can be there. These are people coming from such different art markets and aren’t familiar with the South African market. So it’s guiding them on which collectors to approach and how they will benefit from being at the fair.
Kim Kandan: We wanted to bridge the gaps between what’s happening in the northern, western, eastern part of Africa with South Africa. South Africa can sometimes feel like its own country, outside of Africa. Although Art Joburg is the longest-running fair on the continent, we need to connect the dots. We need to make them feel welcome. They don’t really know what’s happening here in terms of the art industry. That’s what Esi says a lot: they don’t know what a vibrant art industry we have in South Africa. It’s about bridging those gaps and creating a market for them here as well.
Esi Aida Hayfron-Benjamin: When I first came to South Africa two years back, I noticed how the art ecosystem here is quite developed and the artists are very empowered in a way that I don’t see in Ghana and I don’t see in Nigeria. West African art has become very popular on the global art market. But a lot of people don’t realise that artists practicing in Ghana and Nigeria are looking to expose themselves outside, because there’s very limited opportunities in their country. I think that creates an inherent power imbalance. I was very inspired by places like Ellis House, August House. These are communities of artists working together, making a living and developing a steady practice. I want that for Ghana.
Are there any lessons or challenges that this process has presented you with?
Esi Aida Hayfron-Benjamin: I definitely think that there are things that we have to overcome. One of them is the xenophobia. I know there is a crime and safety issue in Johannesburg. There are these things that are real barriers to entry here. The xenophobia comes up. The safety issue comes up. The visa issue comes up. Then, of course, in inviting upcoming galleries, they have limited resources. A lot of people think that, if they have limited resources, they might look to a fair outside the continent because it might present better opportunities. However, that’s not my view. I think that there are long-term benefits in African collaboration as opposed to international hype. In the long term, it will do us good to have more continental exchange. I think that the West African market could massively benefit from being exposed to a more developed market like the South African market where there are dedicated collectors and sustainable pricing systems and not as inflated as Ghana. I think that lends itself to artists having more longevity in their careers.
What would you say you’re looking forward to most at the fair?
Kim Kandan: When I first visited the fair, it was a while back. And then I visited when Mandla purchased it. I remember entering a feeling like everything was so shiny and bright. Like, wow! I’m really looking forward to people walking in for the first time. I’ve arranged the fair so that you enter into the MAX section which presents museum-quality works. I want you to walk in and think, wow! This is the scale at which Africa can actually work. That’s the wow factor that I’m excited for people to experience. Note: This is an abridged and edited transcript of two conversations. To request the full transcript, please email the editor: keely@artthrob.co.za
