40 YEARS OF COLLECTING
A Celebration of the Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Arts Museum) Curated by Dr Same Mdluli Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg 13 May - 6 July 2019
was established in 2012. The agreement was formalised in 1979 when the senior executives of both institutions (Mr Ian Mc Kenzie and Professor Karl Tober respectively) signed an agreement based on the common goal of collecting, preserving and conserving African cultural material.
Above: Zulu, South Africa, Induku, (Stick/staff) late 19th century, 106.50 inches. Right: Songye, DRC, Kifwebe (Mask) 33 inches.
An exhibition marking the forty-year anniversary of the partnership between Standard Bank and The University of Witwatersrand of the jointly owned Standard Bank African Art Collection. The 40 Years of Collecting: A Celebration of the Standard Bank African Art Collection (Wits Arts Museum) marks a remarkable partnership between the Standard Bank and the University of the Witwatersrand in building one of the largest classical African art collections in the southern hemisphere, known as the Standard Bank African Art Collection. Then known as the Standard Bank Foundation of African Art, the collection was initially housed at the University of the Witwatersrand Art Galleries and currently at Wits Art Museum (WAM) which
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‘It was agreed that a certain sum of money would be made available on an annual basis for the purchase of African Art and this growing collection would be jointly owned by both the Standard Bank and Wits University. From the Bank’s side it was a genuine concern in preserving a fast disappearing cultural heritage of enormous diversity and creativity; disappearing not only because of the urbanization of the Black populations and the resultant relinquishing of traditional skills, but also because of the accelerating interest of foreign dealers and collectors who have been removing the works from their country of origin. It is also possibly the first major financial institution to give tangible proof to a belief in the creative culture of the largest population group in this country. Professing belief is one thing, committing oneself is entirely different’ (Crump, 1989: 1). It is in this sentiment of commitment that the exhibition takes as a reflection of the past four decades of collecting. The exhibition is a kind of trajectory of the collection and focuses on the moments that have shaped and defined an understanding of its many objects, artefacts, artworks and material culture that make up the many groups living in South Africa and Africa today. These defining moments are laid out in the exhibition to map the subtle socio-political nuances of how culture has to a large extent remained the same but is also constantly evolving. From the University’s side the collection as noted by Professor
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