PROUDLY AFRICAN ART

Editor’s exclusive

CARLA REDELINGHUYS

In it together

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to try take in more culture this year. I’m going to the opera next week to see Cape Town Opera’s rendition of Puccini’s La Bohéme. My aim is also to go to more art exhibitions. For example, Michael Armitage’s Accomplice at the Norval Foundation.

At just 35, the Kenyan artist is swiftly emerging as one of the most exciting young voices of contemporary art, heralded as a stand-out artist at the 2019 Venice Biennale.

“We’re truly honoured to host Michael and his incredible work,” says Elana Brundyn, director, Norval Foundation. “Particularly, we’re proud that this is his first major solo exhibition in a public institution on his home continent Africa.”

Created over the past two years, his vivid depiction of inequality and political uncertainty is drawn from his visits to rallies in the run-up to Kenya’s 2017 elections, combined with his own impressions, memories and discourses. Observations of contemporary Nairobi and images culled from social and broadcast media form the basis of paintings that are in conversation with Western figurative painting and East African modernism.

Armitage, who is based between Nairobi, where he grew up, and London, where he studied, has recently gained international critical acclaim by major museums, curators, collectors and galleries. Testament to this is an upcoming solo exhibition at Haus de Kunst (Munich, Germany) and a myriad of recent solo exhibitions worldwide.

Armitage substitutes linen or canvas with Lubugo cloth as the ground for all the paintings in Accomplice. A textile developed by the Baganda of southern Uganda, and designated a piece of oral and intangible cultural heritage by Unesco, Lubugo is created by removing a thin layer of bark from the mutuba tree. This is then beaten with a series of mallets to form a thin, flexible material that is traditionally used as a burial shroud or for ceremonial clothing. Yet Armitage adopted this as canvas after discovering it in a tourist store in Nairobi in 2010. The fissures and irregularities that are common to Lubugo are incorporated into the composition of his paintings, putting the artist’s practice in dialogue with the conceptual and historical meanings of the cloth, as well as its particular material qualities.

“Without a doubt, Michael is a brilliant painter; he reminds us why art is so powerful. His work is dreamlike, colourful, mysterious, and exotic – yet not without darkness, not without painful truths,” says Elana, “But like all pain, it’s made easier to deal with by the means with which he engages us. I hope the public will welcome this rising star that has captured the world’s imagination.”

In your hood: Stellenbosch Neighbourhood

Stellenbosch Triennale | 021 300 6187 | stellenboschtriennale.com

Why only art can save us

The Stellenbosch Triennale is the perfect showcase of local and African artists

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Summer 2020, and the Western Cape is set to become a centre of world art, as multitudes of artists, gallerists, curators and collectors from South Africa, the continent and abroad converge in the province.

Not to be missed is the Stellenbosch Triennale – Tomorrow There will Be More of Us – taking place since 11 February to 30 April, where artists will exhibit their practices of using both the African continent and its urban sprawl as inspiration.

The aim of the exhibition has, from its inception, been to shine a light on emerging and underrepresented artists, set to be tomorrow’s leading names. It’s open to those working on and beyond the African continent with an ongoing theme of transformation and experimentation showcasing unorthodox art forms addressing current social and political issues.

Artists include Ibrahim Mahama of Ghana, whose gargantuan installations use the transformation of materials to explore themes of commodity, migration, globalisation and economic exchange, and Cape Town-based Congolese artist Patrick Bongoy, whose rubber and hessian creatures is a response to the global reality of literal and figurative environmental pollution.

Also high on the must-see list is Lazaro Samuel’s distinct paint splatter-style work. His back story is fascinating. At the age of 15, Samuel was living on the streets of Dar es Salaam. And then his luck changed. He was taken to Nafasi Art Space by Makini Kids, an organisation that teaches kids life skills through the arts.

For over a year Lazaro attended art workshops while also volunteering on the grounds. He was soon hired full time as one of the groundskeepers while also acting as a guide and assistant to various artists in residence.

His talent was first witnessed on the clothes he decorated in his spare time and later, with encouragement from various artists at Nafasi, on the walls around the grounds. But it’s on the canvas where his full range has been realised.

The inaugural Stellenbosch Triennale 2020 takes place in various locations across Stellenbosch with many in venues within or close to traditionally under-resourced communities to ensure accessibility. Exhibitions are free of charge.

Neighbourhood In your hood: Constantia

Constantia Glen Tasting Room | 021 795 5639 | constantiaglen.com

The air up there

Wine tasting expands effortlessly into leisurely lunch and dinner at Constantia Glen Tasting Room this summer

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There’s a reason that Constantia Glen is a favourite with locals and visitors alike – you don’t get much better than the spectacular views looking over its own vineyards, the whole valley spilling down beyond. It feels like stepping into an airbrushed magazine spread, sunshine painting the vines brilliant green, mountain backdrop and beautiful but informal decor. The wines are pretty spectacular too, and the food menu has gradually been evolving from supporting role to a reason to visit in itself.

There’s no separation between wine tasting and restaurant. Wherever you’re seated, in one of the two courtyards, glass-walled pavilion or long stoep, you can order from a choice of winetasting options (or wine pairings by the glass) and a varied food menu. In addition to the range of platters designed to accompany wine tastings (with a new vegan platter featuring homemade vegan cheeses and more), and a whole selection of their signature flammkuchen, the new mains section of the menu expands a light lunch into something more leisurely and substantial.

Our waitress was knowledgeable about the Bordeaux-style wines, and suggested splitting the flagship wine tasting of four estate wines into two parts, the whites with our starter followed by reds with our mains. We first sipped the Constantia Glen Sauvignon Blanc 2019, fresh, elegant and captivating, and the Constantia Glen Two 2018, a tantalising blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon. A large caprese flammkuchen was more than enough as a shared starter, thin crisp rectangles of deliciousness, slightly richer than pizza and practically a meal in itself.

Back at our panoramic window table after a stroll along the green lawn, admiring vines and the Constantiaberg backdrop, our red wines were presented before the main courses arrived. Constantia Glen Three and Five 2016, named for the number of varietals in each blend, and both superb structured wines with potential for aging.

The mains were a fine foil for an extended wine tasting, generous plates and hearty flavours. I enjoyed robust pulled lamb with wild mushrooms and potato gratin, but the seared tuna niçoise was better suited to that day’s hot summer weather, thick slices of briefly seared tuna, the centre raw, fresh and tender on a sumptuous salad including olives, eggs, potato, green beans and baby leaves. The traditional Austrian goulash with spätzle, and seared beef fillet with chips, were other tempting options.

Desserts are hardly needed after such a feast, and we didn’t succumb to the lure of chocolate fondant, but homemade vanilla bean ice cream slipped down a treat, as did an affogato.

In your hood: Countrywide

The Giant Periwinkle | 082 465 8350 | giantperiwinkle.co.za Thistle & Weed | info@thistleandweed.co.za | thistleandweed.co.za Saurwein Wines | 021 448 4105 | winecellar.co.za

Wines worth seeking out

Tired of the ho-hum mass-market brands that you’ll find on any supermarket shelf from Calvinia to Putsonderwater?

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These boutique cellars are making smart wines at small volumes, and they’re well worth seeking out…

The Giant Periwinkle From grapes grown on the windswept Agulhas Plain, winemaker Pierre Rabie – also an advocate at the Cape bar – has grown his winery from a garagiste operation into a fullyfledged producer with its own cellar and vineyards near the hamlet of Baardskeerdersbos. The Sun Spider Pinotage and Kelp Forest Syrah are particularly worth discovering, but right now it’s the Blanc Fumé – a lightlywooded sauvignon blanc – that’s the flagship, and a fine example of the coolclimate potential of the deep south.

Thistle & Weed Winemaker Stephanie Wiid and viticulturist Etienne Terblanche are the duo behind this cult brand known for seeking out vines that show the same tenacity as the weeds farmers battle in the vineyard. The star of the show is Duwweltjie, a chenin blanc from a venerable bushvine vineyard in Paarl. With natural yeasts and a long maturation in old oak barrels, it’s a wonderfully expressive example of old-vine chenin blanc. Brandnetel is its more subtle companion from Stellenbosch vineyards, while the reds – Knapsekêrel and Nastergal – draw on cabernet franc, tempranillo and the unusual alicante bouschet. If you love wine and are looking for new discoveries, start here.

Saurwein Wines Jessica Saurwein traces her winemaking heritage back to the 17 th century, when her forefathers made “sour wine” for the emperor of Austria. Today, her boutique brand pays tribute to this vinous heritage with a trio of wines crafted from her two favourite cultivars, pinot noir and riesling. With grapes sourced from Elgin, Hemelen-Aarde Ridge and the Elandskloof valley near Villiersdorp, there’s a cool-climate thread running through the pair of pinot noirs and a riesling.

Relying on natural yeasts for fermentation, “it’s my aim to achieve energy and harmony simultaneously in the wines”, says Jessica. “The ‘hands-off’ winemaking approach allows me to be guided by the natural balance of the grapes.”

Natural ecosystems play a leading role on the bottle too, with the striking labels by South African artist Isabella Kuijers intended as a promise of what lies beneath each cork.