Mattering: 50 Years of the Festival
Visual Art,
Monument Gallery,
Daily 9am – 5pm
Curated
By Farirai Dangwa
The ties that bind the past and the present of the National Arts Festival are embodied through the artworks at the 1820 Settlers National Monument, displaying the interconnectedness between different art and artists throughout the decades.
Fifty years of art are celebrated throughout this exhibition, which displays artworks from every decade to honour the artists that have come before and appreciate those who are here now.
The blend of visual, digital, immersive, and optical media demonstrates the evolution and transitions of art throughout the years. All these media forms in one exhibition space encapsulate how much art has changed over decades but still has nods to the past.
Walking through the exhibition is like walking through time. Starting the display from the back of the room from 1974- 1983, and as you move to the exit, ending your journey at 2014-2023.
The different sections of the exhibition transport you into the era it represents. From the reacted words on the artwork label of the 1974-1983 collage piece to the three-ring binder that holds the artwork label for the 1994-2003 overhead projectors.
The incorporation of different forms of media and technologies within the exhibition is impressive, to say the least. The transition from the older tube TVs to flatscreens and the change from overhead projectors to LED smart projectors displays the amount of thought put behind this exposition. Shifts in decades can also be made from the hanging cowhide in the 2004-2013 era to the virtual reality (VR) video from all over Makhanda in the 2014-2023 era.
A trip to the Mattering exhibition would not only be a look through the decades but a submersion into time. There are daily viewings at the Monument building in the Monument Gallery from 9am to 5pm, along with scheduled walkabouts on June 28 at 10am and June 29 4pm.
