Hazel Friedman
NOSES have not yet been broken in the build- up to this year’s Johannesburg Biennale. But some might be put out of joint due to confusion over who is running South Africa’s second international art extravaganza, and over who will fund it.
Officially, the man at the helm is the Nigerian-born New York-based critic, curator and publisher Okwui Enwezor, who was appointed its artistic director. But the former director of culture for Johannesburg, Christopher Till, who was ousted from his position by Victor Modise last year, retains his title as captain of the ship.
Although he is obliged to report to Modise, he has been named executive director of the Biennale, which effectively puts him in charge. Relations between Till and Modise are reportedly brittle. And confusion still surrounds the issue of who will be funding the Biennale and how much it will cost.
The first Johannesburg Biennale took place in 1995 amid widespread controversy, caused by the volatile relationship between Till and his second-in-command Lorna Ferguson (personal tensions culminated in Ferguson breaking Till’s nose during a fistfight outside the Civic Centre), as well as questions surrounding the cost of the extravaganza itself.
This year’s Biennale has been considerably more modest in aspirations and the build-up to it less acrimonious. Instead of echoing its predecessor by inviting participants from 63 countries, this Biennale will have no national pavilions. Enwezor will work in conjunction with six international curators on exhibitions revolving around a central theme conceived by Enwezor, called Trade Routes: History and Geography.
Yet just three months from lift-off – the Biennale runs from October 12 to January 18 – there is still confusion over funding. Although the Johannesburg Transitional Metropolitan Council (TMC) has agreed in principle to fund the event, to date no money has been forthcoming.
“The funding delay has been frustrating, but we are definitely having a Biennale, and we are sure that the process leading up to it will be as transparent as possible,” says Bongi Dhlomo-Mautloa, director of the Africus Institute of Contemporary Art, the support organisation behind the Biennale. But Till is confident that the TMC funds will be forthcoming.
At the time of going to press, the TMC’s Danie Malan had not responded to a fax sent to him by the Mail & Guardian requesting information on both the 1995 and 1997 Biennales.