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ARAK COLLECTION FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS
Curating Cultures in Sub-Saharan Africa
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www.arakcollection.com
ARAK Collection is a public platform to foster critical dialogue around contemporary art practices with a focus on Sub-Saharan African Artists and educational programs that have an educational and developmental impact in the local community. The collection consists of paintings, paper and prints of more than 200 young and mid-career artists of Sub-Saharan African countries.
The ARAK collection is managed by Curating Cultures, a Kuwaiti company specialized in providing consulting services and developing strategic planning to implement cultural and artistic projects to support the creative and cultural industries. The ARAK Collection is an independent, Qatari-based initiative, that aims to promote through exhibitions, publications, research and educational programs, contemporary sub-Saharan African art and artists. The collection is a resource for artists, curators and researchers, it hosts in-house and traveling exhibitions, it also lends artwork to regional and international organizations, institutions and museums, producing print and online publications, and impactful public programs associated with the exhibitions it produces and hosts.
Considering the need for more access to opportunities, ARAK’s new fellowship programs were created to have a positive impact in the creative ecosystems of SubSaharan countries, to be relevant and diverse. The program support artists as the innovative visual arts thinkers and producers, curators as the visionaries that think of new ways to bring art to the audiences and promote engagement, and art writers as the creators of new worlds and new ways to look at the world, art, culture, and life in general.
Curatorial Residency: The Residency Fellowship Program was created to support ARAK Collection’s Mission of developing and supporting young and mid-career artists and curators through promoting curatorial research, the publication and exhibitions of their collection’s works. The exhibitions developed and produced by ARAK Collection aspire to be impactful and are all associated with relevant public programming. The ARAK Collection Annual Residency Fellowship Program aims to promote a better knowledge and understanding of Contemporary Sub-Saharan Art in the Middle East and Beyond through research of the extensive works that form part of its collection.
The resident guest curator is expected to research the collection with the intention of curating an exhibition and writing the exhibition catalogue at the end of the residency period, after in-depth research and the submission of a curatorial concept to be approved by the ARAK Collection Curatorial Advisory Committee. Each Fellowship Grant is approximately USD 20,000. The grant includes USD 5000 for research expenses and fees and USD 15,000 to produce the exhibition and publish the catalogue.
Maliza Kiasuwa (1975), Untitled (Today is yesterday, part 2), Mixed Media, 42 x 30cm. Opposite Page: Lizette Chirrime (Mozambique 1973), The Fluid Dauce, Dressed in Red, Print on archival paper, 76 x 56cm
Yasmeen Abdulla (Sudan), Untitled, acrylic on paper
Art Writing & Publishing: The Art Writing & Publishing Program is targeted at interested Art Writers, Academics, Critics and Intellectuals that have a publication project they would like to collaborate on or develop with ARAK Collection. Art writers (used broadly) may propose reference level publishable projects for ARAK Collection to Publish under its Publishing Umbrella activities.
If you have any idea that you believe the current publishing Sub-Saharan Art panorama is missing, either new or something you have been working on, you may submit it for consideration. If your idea collects the ARAK Curatorial Advisory Committee consensual approval, it will be selected for development and ultimately publishing.
Artist Commission: Annually the Committee makes several research and fact-finding trips to Sub-Saharan Africa to encounter artists in their production context and exchange ideas about ways their artwork can complement the current ARAK Collection outlook and catalogue. If you are an artist with a working studio, you can send your contact and address of your art studio to be added it to the Artists Studio Map and Database at ARAK Collection. Artists that are working in new and innovative artworks are invited to submit applications for the annual Artist Commission. If an artist requires funds for production of a specific artwork series or artwork and need support, the fund for Artist Commission can support towards developing and producing the work. The final objective is to add an artwork to the ARAK Collection through a direct commission or support to artwork or series that the artist needs funding for.
For more information regarding applications for the ARAK Collection Fellowship Programs, visit www.arakcollection.com
Business Art RE MMÔGÔ: WE ARE TOGETHER
Selections from Sanlam and MTN Art Collections shown together
William Kentridge 1955, The Battle between Yes and No, 1987, screenprint on paper, MTN Art Collection Bongani Malapane, Unknown Marabaraba, 2007, etching on paper, MTN Art Collection
MTN and Sanlam are showcasing a selection of artworks from their respective art collections in the collaborative exhibition Re Mmogo: We are Together which will be open for viewing at Sanlam’s Offices on 11 Alice Lane, Sandton, Gauteng, from 7 September 2022.
This considerable exhibition features over 100 pieces by 75 artists from South Africa, the African continent, and its diasporic global community.
Stefan Hundt, curator of the Sanlam Art Collection says, “the present exhibition with the MTN Art Collection was conceived to be one of a complimentary collaboration in the spirit of the title Re Mmôgô (We are Together, translated from Se Tswana). Hundt continues, “key works were selected to highlight the communalities where both collections hold artworks by the same artist such as Gerard Sekoto, Durant Sihlali, Willem Boshoff and Simon Lekgetho. In other instances, there were conceptual or formal congruities such as in the works for Gavin Younge and Stephen Maqashela, Yinka Shonibare and Tracey Rose, Kwesi Owusu-Ankomah and Alexis Preller”.
This is not MTN and Sanlam’s first collaboration. In August 2021 the companies announced that they have joined forces in an exclusive strategic alliance to develop and distribute a comprehensive range of insurance, investment and savings products to their customers across Africa. “For MTN, this is an opportunity to aggressively grow its fintech business while Sanlam gets the benefit of tapping into new markets”, writes Londiwe Buthelezi for Finance24 (12 August 2021).
Ephraim Ngatane 1938 - 1971 Portrait of Dumile Nhlaba Feni, 1964, oil on board, MTN Art Collection
Above: Sam Nhlengethwa 1955, Platform 5, 1998, oil and collage on canvas, MTN Art Collection Opposite Page: Irma Stern, 1894 - 1966, Portrait of a young Malay Girl, 1939, oil on canvas, Sanlam Art Collection
Willie Bester 1956, Blue Truck Crossroads, 1992, mixed media collage on board, Sanlam Art Collection
Stephen Maqashela 1966, Ride to Rights, 2000, printing plates and found objects, MTN Art Collection
Sfiso Ka Mkame 1963, Open Letters for our Children, 1988, pastel and wax crayon on paper, MTN Art Collection
“The cultural collaboration further solidifies this business partnership and demonstrates how two corporates, from historically different backgrounds, have come together to also present an exhibition which not only showcases a selection of works from the Sanlam Art Collection, now in its 56th year, and the MTN Art Collection, now in its 24th year, but to also validate how both companies have for decades contributed to the South African arts sector in markedly similar ways”, says Niel Nortje, manager of the MTN Art Collection.
Nortje continues, “through the responsible management and preservation of heritage treasures, availing education and internal awareness programmes, and managing avid publication drives to disseminate information about South African, and African, arts, culture, and heritage - Sanlam and MTN have both been contributing significantly not only towards the sector, but also towards government’s nation building efforts.” Further to this Hundt says, “the works showcased are a small selection of significant images which reflect on the historical transformation of South Africa over the past 50 years. They present a testament to the creative ingenuity of developing a diverse visual vocabulary which speaks of the struggles, anxieties and dreams of an evolving nation as it comes to terms with history and its place in Africa.”
The exhibition will run until 27 January 2023 and can be viewed by appointment on weekdays from 09h00 to 16h30.
