Ryneveld Street is home to 6 Art Galleries. Photo:Ingrid Kluckow.
Stellenbosch recently celebrated the opening of yet another art gallery. The Dyman Gallery is the sixth gallery on Ryneveld Street and despite South Africa’s current economic state, the owner of the gallery, Gerrit Dyman, believes the industry is growing.
According to Dyman, “the opening of art museums such as The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa and the Norval Foundation Art Museum successfully contributed to the exposure of the art industry within South Africa”.
Dyman states that the active participation of South African artists in international art fairs also influences the increased growth that the art industry is experiencing.
The 2018 report by the South African Cultural Observatory on the impact of the cultural and creative industries in South Africa, visual arts and crafts, which include fine art, make up 8% of the GDP contribution of the cultural economy.
A Vincent da Silva sculpture looking out over Ryneveld Street , Stellenbosch. Photo: Ingrid Kluckow
Dyman states that it is therefore important for the public to continue the support of the art industry and in that way also help in “creating social upliftment”.
According to Professor Jen Snowball, a cultural economist from the South African Cultural Observatory, cultural and creative industries tend to cluster geographically. Snowball says she is therefore “not surprised that you are finding this in the fine art market too”.
Snowball explains that it is an indicator of where the biggest markets are and that it allows groups to share expertise, skills and marketing costs, while still competing with each other.
Dyman who has been in the art industry for the past 13 years, states that competition between art galleries is not blatantly evident as “most galleries have their own identity in order to differentiate themselves from other galleries”.
Swan Diver nestled between Ryneveld Street and Church Street, Stellenbosch. Created by Lydia da Silva . Photo: Ingrid Kluckow
The growth of art in Africa, according to Dyman, depends on the ability of people to realise that making art is not just an activity of leisure, but it can also be an occupation.