Paul Edmunds
Granted, this was no inner-city free luxury bus ride. Instead, it was a jerky trundle on a diesel-smelling orange behemoth, askew on its tired springs. It was also probably one of the only times most of the passengers will ride on a public bus this year.
Art Night was begun by gallery owner and artist Mark Coetzee, and Estelle Jacobs of the Association for Visual Arts. In April they co-ordinated a circuitous bus route between 16 of the city’s art galleries, who all arranged to stage exhibition openings on the evening. It was a wonderful experience, a small step towards reclaiming the streets from their almost inevitable urban decay.
The second incarnation, on the night of September 23, was deemed to be more successful than its predecessor. This time around the event was somewhat expanded, involving 41 venues (including bars, restaurants and vacant shops), several routes and eight buses.
Art Night patrons of the second evening were estimated at between 12 000 and 15 000, as opposed to the 6 000 to 10 000 for the first. The second, however, lacked some of the saturation and excitement of the first. Nevertheless, the Cape Times, chief sponsor of the One City, Many Cultures Festival, regards this event as one of the success stories of the festival. So too do the galleries, many of whom probably don’t see that many patrons in a year, and some of whom have noticed a marked increase in sales. The Cape Times has offered generous sponsorship for the next six proposed events, and aims to commission performance and temporally based works on the evening. Streets in the city will be closed off and perhaps another step will be taken in the revitalising of the inner city space.
While the buses were filled with arty farty types and others bumming a free lift, 200m down Bree Street a bunch of crafty artists were busy interfering with the city’s public art, monuments and statuary. This was PTO, an event organised by Public Eye, a Section 21 company that’s concerning itself with issues surrounding public art. The project aimed to highlight the fairly sorry state of public art in our cities. Most of it is rooted in old politics and old money.
This was how General Louis Botha, statesman, came to be a Xhosa initiate with a clay-whitened face, blanket across his shoulders and bare feet fashioned over his boots. Beezy Bailey was responsible, and although someone did threaten to shoot him for his troubles, an awareness of the right issues was created. He made front-page news.
Kevin Brand was responsible for decorating an Edoardo Villa noodle with leaflike Teletubbies. Brand was also responsible for another act that serves well to take stock of prevailing attitudes to public art and culture. In imitation of the controversial glass pyramid at the Louvre, Brand made his own from one-tonne bales of waste paper. These were strategically positioned in front of the National Gallery. The work commented on the near non-existence of funding for the arts in South Africa and highlighted the need to challenge our prevailing perceptions and definitions of public art and popular culture.
It is initiatives like Art Night and PTO that are going to lay the groundwork and, together with some committed sponsorship, perhaps public art can go beyond corporate pasta and bronze testimonials.