22/11/07 – V&A Waterfront Wire Art Pieces to go on Auction Next Week PDF Print E-mail
Thursday, November 22, 2007

Cape Town’s first wire art auction is to take place next week on Thursday, November 29, 2007 when the ten monumental wire art pieces that have been on display at the V&A Waterfront the past month, will be auctioned.  

The auction will be targeting corporate head-offices and government departments who have spaces to display these public art pieces.  The proceeds of the art works will go towards the wire artists, further promoting the wire art sector in the Cape.   

Visibly excited about the event, auctioneer Joey Burke, who have auctioned for hundreds of charities all over South Africa, including Nelson Mandela’s 46664, says: “I have never seen such a beautiful display of wire art talent. The pieces are colourful, inimitable and a true expression of African art. They are display pieces for corporate head-offices, hotels, safari lodges, spaces to accentuate the grandiose African statement they make.”  Interested bidders can contact Burke cellular 079 039 9399 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  The auction is to take place on Thursday, 29 November 2007, 18:00 for 18:30 at the Cape Town Tourism Office, second level, Clock Tower Shopping Centre, V&A Waterfront.
 
The art pieces are the wire artists’ expressions of their experiences of the city.  There are four Table Mountain interpretations.  The Cape persona can be seen in Madiba, the Argus cyclist and Cape minstrel. A wire tree, a flower tree and a wine bottle with flowers show strong identifications with the Cape’s export products.

With the wire+plus [this is my Cape Town] auction, the project enters its final phase.  In June this year eleven talented wire artists, who all live and work in the Western Cape, were selected from many entries to create monumental wire art pieces, based on scale models or marquettes.  Under the auspices of sculptors Etienne de Kock and Brendhan Dickerson and industrial designer Felix Holm the artists created their art pieces in the public eye at the V&A Waterfront Craft Market and Wellness Centre.  Over the past month visitors to the V&A Waterfront could view the displays at the Clock Tower Centre, the Victoria Wharf Shopping Centre and the V&A Waterfront Craft Market & Wellness Centre.  

The ten artists and the piece descriptors are as follows:
  • Bishop Tarambawamwe’s Cape Doctor: a fully beaded Table Mountain, with a touch of humour
  • Takunda Gochera’s Tree of Opportunity: a coiled wire tree, carrying different facets of the Cape  
  • Willard Musarurwa’s Cape Minstrel: a larger-than-life fully beaded Cape Minstrel
  • Joe Maphuno’s Cape Town embodied: a twisted wire sculpture of Table Mountain, with beaded figures, representative of Cape Town
  •  John Mkandawire’s To Cape Town: a coiled wire wine bottle and Cape flowers
  • Andrew Dombeleni’s Argus Fever: racing cyclist
  • Tawanda Dengedza’s Cape-Scape: a fully beaded sculpture of Table Mountain
  • Luke Gwatidzo’s Our Flower Tree: a tree in a copper pot, adorned with a variety of Cape flowers
  • Herbert Suzha’s Cape Contours: a woven wired sculpture of Table Mountain with linear wire structures
  • Masimba Jefter Mwazha’s Madiba’s ground: a chicken-wire sculpture of Madiba         
The wire+plus [this is Cape Town] project is a collaborative initiative by the Cape Craft & Design Institute, V&A Waterfront and Cape Town Tourism.  The project aims to create an awareness of the creative talent of Cape wire artists and the growth of this craft sector in the Western Cape. 

Allens Meshco and the Bead Merchants contributed the masses of wire and beads required for the project. Photographs of the final art works will be used for a catalogue and 2008 calendar with supporting grant funding from Business and Arts South Africa (BASA).  

To view the artists and their art pieces, visit http://www.capecraftanddesign.org.za/content/view/61/93/


Notes to the Editor:
  • The Cape Craft & Design Institute aims at contributing to the Western Cape’s drive to build a better home for all, supporting craft producers, networking all players in the product-to-market chain, promoting Cape Craft and encouraging unlimited creativity and innovation.  
  • Cape Town Tourism promotes tourism and tourism services in the City, and encourages emersion into destinations and cultures, which gives Cape Town its unique energy and appeal.
  • The V&A Waterfront as a prominent property developer is committed to the development of small business opportunities, and sees this competition as an ideal channel to establish the profile of wire artists.
  • Other sponsors are the Western Cape Cultural Commission and Business Arts South Africa (BASA).  


Issued by:
HR Strategic Communications


On behalf of:
Wire+plus [this is my Cape Town]


Media enquiries:
Hélène Rossouw
082 771 8834
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