As the FNB Jo’burg Art Fair enters its fourth year, some things have changed.
Firstly the season — this year the fair opens in September, as the trees in Jo’burg start to bloom, a change from its usual Easter weekend slot. This move is a strategic one, says Art Logic’s Ross Douglas. “It’s really art season in Jo’burg,” he says.
During this period sales in galleries generally pick up. Like London’s Frieze Art Fair in October, the Jo’burg art scene has come alive. There have been blockbuster audiences at the Everard Read and at William Kentridge’s Refuse the Hour Festival at the Market Theatre.
Another significant change to the fair is the name, with a major corporate sponsor, FNB, coming on board. By securing the naming rights for three years, the bank has ensured the continuation of the fair for some time.
“This gives us stability in the long term,” says Douglas, which will enable growth and for the fair to look further afield to attract new international audiences.
Douglas says that international buyers and investors have been watching closely to see whether the fair can maintain its sustainability. After looking extensively at international models, the big challenge for Art Logic, the founder of the fair, has been whether the fair can maintain itself beyond its initial period of three years. “South Africa has a lot of wreckage in the art world,” Douglas says cautiously. “Many large-scale events have a very short shelf life.”
The nature of arts sponsorship is also changing with the arts now competing with sports for corporate investors’ attention.
Sexy art
“Art has become very sexy,” Douglas says, adding that “art sponsorship is good value for money” in terms of brand visibility, offering a high rate of return. The environment is definitely changing. When Art Logic helped produce Kentridge’s opera The Magic Flute in 2007, 21Â 000 tickets were sold. “In South Africa that kind of thing was unprecedented,” says Douglas.
“The nature of the audience also becomes important.” Buyers coming to the fair are more knowledgeable and informed. “There is no longer a wide angle in terms of who we want to approach but rather
we have a teleÂphoto strategy,” says Douglas. With the average sales for the art fair weekend over the past three years ranging from R16-million to R20-million, the model seems to be working. “That’s a lot of money for a weekend in the artworld,” says Douglas.
But the art fair is not solely about sales and is “broadening the edges of its parameters” to straddle the informative element. Special projects, such as the Alfa Romeo Art Talks, give people the chance to engage artists, gallerists and curators. This year the audience will be treated to a keynote address by the director of Tate Modern, Chris Dercon, who has been brought out in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut.
Another component has been added to the event – a cash prize sponsored by FNB. This year the three finalists are Athi-Patra Ruga, Cedric Nunn and Nirveda Alleck, who will all be competing for the sum of R100Â 000.
Douglas hopes the fair will contribute to a healthy economy for South African art. Now that the training wheels have been taken off, greater international attention needs to be fostered.
“I have no qualms about the commercialisation of contemporary art,” says Douglas. “Artists don’t have high production values unless they are superstars. What is important is to get new blood into the art world in order to keep improving.”
Meeting expectations
The role of the fair has been tested in trying financial times. What remains to be seen is whether the fair can meet its expectations and cement a place for South African art in the global sphere.
The FNB Jo’burg Art Fair is on at the Sandton Convention Centre from September 23 to 25.
To see artworks featured at this year’s event, go to mg.co.za/artfair