The untold stories behind the work and lives of 14 South African artists have been researched and recorded for the first time as part of a joint project between Telkom and the University of the Witwatersrand.
The project took almost 14 months to complete and has brought to light information not previously known about the artists and their work, said Lulu Letlape, Telkom Group Executive: Corporate Communication, at the launch of an exhibition on the project, being held at the Pretoria Art Museum.
Entitled `Artists in Conversation`, the exhibition opened on 29 September and will run until 30 October. It features 43 works by the artists who participated, as well as a multimedia presentation consisting of text, images and sound bites gained through oral history research techniques.
The project is believed to be the first in SA in which oral history techniques have been used to focus on art. Oral history has been widely used in the past 10 years for research on political figures and the history of political struggle, but is still relatively rare in other fields.
"Up to now, there has been very little literature on South African art on which students, researchers and the public can draw," said Letlape at the opening of the exhibition. "As a communications company, we appreciate the power of art in reaching out across language, race and cultural barriers. We hope this project will help to bridge the knowledge gaps and contribute to a better understanding of South African art over the past 50 years."
Telkom, whose corporate art collection consists of over 800 artworks, all by South African artists, funded the project with a supporting grant from Business and Arts South Africa.
The company also assisted with the training of the six Wits University students selected to interview the artists participating in the project.
Visual Arts and History of Arts students were paired with history students from the university`s History Workshop and assigned to conduct one-on-one interviews with the 14 artists, all of whom are represented on Telkom`s art collection.
The interviews were transcribed and videotaped, and the contents verified by the artists. The students and their lecturers then consolidated the material, which includes images of the artists and sound bites, and packaged it in multimedia format.
An interactive CD-ROM has been made for distribution to museums, galleries and schools, and the project material is also being prepared for placement on the Telkom Web site and Wits intranet.
The artists interviewed for the project were selected to give a good range of representation, including age, gender and their roles in the South African art sphere. They are Vincent Baloyi, Kim Berman, Clifford Charles, Bettie Cilliers-Barnard, Chris Diedericks, Mandla Mabila, Osiah Masekoameng, Daniel Mosako, Henriette Ngako, Charles Nkosi, Mmakgobo Nnapula H Sebidi, Moses Seleko, Kedibone (Sarah) Tabane and Alfred Thoba.
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