The big reveal: On the opening night of the Woordfees in March this year, the Stellenbosch Outdoor Sculpture Trust (SOST) revealed that it would be bringing 30 extraordinary artists from all over the African continent to the Eikestad as it will be hosting the Stellenbosch art Triennale next year, 2020. PHOTO: Supplied.
At number 116 Dorp Street, in a space behind a door in the old Voorgelegen building, sit the masterminds behind the Stellenbosch Triennale which is set to take place between 11 February and 30 April next year (2020).
Since the big reveal in March, the Stellenbosch Outdoor Sculpture Trust (SOST) has been hard at work to make Stellenbosch’s very first Triennale possible.
“We don’t for one second profess to be the first to do this. We want to acknowledge and honour those that have come before us and to see them as ways to learn and ways to things differently,” comments Art Project Manager, Trustee and Director of the SOST, Andi Norton.
Artists from all over the continent including Ghana, Rwanda, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and of course, South Africa, will showcase their artwork in three different exhibitions around Stellenbosch in a theme conceptualised by Chief Art Curator, Khanyisile Mbongwa, called “tomorrow, there will be more of us”.
Chief Art Curator, Khanyisile Mbongwa is bringing Africa to South Africa in the Stellenbosch Triennale taking place between 11 February and 30 April, 2020. Giving artists from all over Africa the platform to express themselves within the space of the theme tomorrow, there will be more of us. PHOTO: Supplied.
The theme was chosen because it allows for infinite possibilities of interpretation.
There will be three permanent exhibitions which will run for six days a week for two and a half months. Firstly, the Curator’s Exhibition which is seen as the ‘anchor’ of the Triennale will be at The Woodmill in Devonvallei.
Secondly, Off the Cusp will be exhibited at the Historic Building in Dorp Street. Lastly, the From the Vault exhibition will be showcased at the Stellenbosch University Museum in Ryneveld Street.
In-between these permanent exhibitions, there will be supplementary exhibitions in the form of film, discussions and music.
South African art critic, Melvin Minaar has been involved in the Biennales and Triennales of the 1980s and the 1990s and comments that he feels, for the first time, that the right time for an event like a Triennale is now.
Norton is excited for Stellenbosch to host such a prestigious event in the art world and expresses that it will be good for Stellenbosch for a number of reasons, one of them being: “Stellenbosch is often seen as quite isolated. People often call it a ‘bubble’. Living here, we know there is much more to Stellenbosch than just the white, gables and the oak trees. There has been so much negative press whether its Steinhoff, the ‘Boere Mafia’, Henri van Breda and we believe this will be very good for the town to give it a new narrative,” Norton says.
The Triennale is a rare opportunity for artists to step out of the ‘art business box’ and onto the art playground as Norton comments: “it’s [the Stellenbosch Triennale] a space to just imagine, express, experiment, and to play which is exciting both for the artist and for the audience because it is where people go to see works in a very free environment and it is often where artists are discovered.”
“It is a platform that gives a space for great topics to be debated. For subjects to be raised,” adds Norton.
The SOST is a non-profit organisation and so the Stellenbosch Triennale is funded through donations from a network of patrons and supporters the SOST has built up since it began in 2011. Other sponsors include Remgro Ltd, Distell Ltd and auction house, Strauss and Company.
Logistics manager on the Stellenbosch Triennale project, Leopold Du Toit says that, “art and events like the Stellenbosch Triennale are important because it uses art, creativity, imagination and public space as a meeting point in engaging with our collective past, present and future existence and all its complexities”.
“We aim to make art accessible to all, democratising it so that more people can enjoy the many benefits if offers and taking it out of the realm of the elite,” Du Toit adds.
Because SOST believe in making art accessible to everybody, every exhibition is free, no tickets required.
Start at The Woodmill market in Devonvallei. Park your cars, grab a coffee or a Stellenbrauw beer and proceed to the first exhibition in the trio, the Curator’s Exhibition. Next, find the On the Cusp exhibition at the Historic Building at 107 Dorp Street. Walk up Dorp street to the Stellenbosch Voorgelegen Museum and upstairs you will discover a film exhibition. Take a break at Die Braak in Stellenbosch Central before ending you Triennale tour at the From the Vault exhibition held at the Stellenbosch University Museum. STORYMAP: Catherine Del Monte.
Make sure you get the best Stellenbosch Triennale experience by following the map.
For more information on the Stellenbosch Triennale, click here.