After weeks and months of hard work, the exhibition was a great success! The exhibition, (eco)nversations GREEN ART 2012 was partnered with and hosted by the Green Expo in assocation with National Geographic Channel 281, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from 23 to 25 November 2012. The exhibition showcased selected contemporary art by eight artists including installation art, sculpture, found object art and drawing.
www.thegreenexpo.co.za
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A WORD FROM THE CURATOR
Janet Botes
This exhibition was conceptualized and organized as an integrated part of the 2012 Green Expo, one of its main aims being to offer Expo visitors the opportunity to view and engage with art that is dedicated to raising awareness, changing perceptions or inspiring appreciation for our environment . The artists exhibited were chosen for their personal and individual philosophies, convictions and the way that they express these in their creative work.
Most of the artworks on the exhibition are quite conceptual and they vary in the use of material and different art forms. They are inspired by the underlying themes, solutions and causes of the environmental crisis and global warming, and they seek to involve, invite and inspire people rather than berate, depress and belittle the viewer.
I hope that you find the works as inspiring and thought-provoking as I do, and that their image(s) live in your mind or heart in a way that may change or enrich your way of life and your interaction with and within nature.
As artist and curator, as a woman and as a human, I believe that we are nature, as much part of it as each tree, praying mantis and raindrop. By not respecting and embracing all living things and the landscape, soil and earth that sustains us, we are destroying and discarding ourselves. When you reconnect with nature within and of yourself, you reconnect with everything around you. And when you rethink, recycle, respect, reuse and rehabilitate things, your life and the spaces around you will be enriched and these practices will become second nature.
This exhibition was made possible through the collaboration, cooperation and generous support as well as help of some amazing individuals. I would like to thank each of the artists: Kai, Nicolle, Danelle, Stefanie, Janet, Simon and Claire: thank you all for your participation, hard work and effort with your own art and also as part of the group. Thank you Kai, for writing the manifesto which brings everyone’s voices together so eloquently.
I would also like to acknowledge and thank Chris Naude, Robyn Carstens, Radi van Zyl, Thea Butler and Eljanne Lochner for their support, effort and encouragement, as well as everyone involved with the Collage Mural Project. And last, but not least, thank you to the family members of the artists, and anyone else who helps us to be the artists who we are, fighting for the things we love.
