Africa’s No 1 Arts Bookstore and Publisher

Film director Revel Fox spent time gathering footage of various artists and their work during the installation of Spier Contemporary 2007 for the first in a series of films to be produced by David Krut Publishing.

Eighteen hours of Fox’s superb material have been edited into a collection of short films, each dedicated to a specific artist or work. Taken together, these films are a fascinating group portrait of contemporary South African art, presented by an organisation that hopes to promote growth in this arena.

Artists and their work featured:

Andrew Putter, Brett Bailey, Ruth Levin, Mduduzi Nyembe, Andrzej Nowicki, Peter van Heerden, Leila Anderson, Mwenya Kabwe, Chuma Sopotela and Kemang WaLehulere.

SPIER CONTEMPORARY 2007: The concept behind

Spier Contemporary 2007 is a travelling exhibition, the brainchild of the Africa Centre. The exhibition was visualised by its organisers as a platform for a South African culture where art functions as a reflection of national collective consciousness.
Committed to the development of art skills and visual literacy in South Africa, the Africa Centre envisaged Spier Contemporary as meeting some of its aims to celebrate arts and culture in a way that is honest and accessible, without restricting any particular voice or language in individual or broader cultural contexts. The exhibition received 2200 entries, submitted online, by post and at thirteen collection centres nationwide. The criteria for submission were very broad, with the only restriction being that entries could not place anyone in danger.

A selection of five percent of the submissions – ranging from painting to performance art – was exhibited in a temporary gallery space made out of shipping containers and tents.

Spier Contemporary is an ongoing project that is a constantly evolving representation of how the Africa Centre’s ideals fit into our ever-changing cultural landscape.

Keywords: Andrew Putter, Andrzej Nowicki, Brett Bailey, Chuma Sopotela, David-Krut, Film, Kemang WaLehulere, Leila Anderson, Mduduzi Nyembe, Mwenya Kabwe