director's message

Surprise, surprise! Having announced the end of bonani as an independent South African National Gallery (Sang) newsletter, readers must wonder why another has appeared. Such are the ebbs and flows of structuring a new institution. At a meeting of Southern Flagship Institution (SFI) staff responsible for publications and publicity, we recognised that different publications in the component museums had different time-frames and commitments and that it would be better to aim for a joint publication for the beginning of the new financial year, 1 April 2000. Another reason is that the Chief Executive Officer has not been appointed, and we do not want to present him or her with a mouth-piece for the institution without consultation and some input.

We welcome this unexpected opportunity of communicating with our readers and visitors, particularly at a time when some things change rapidly and others remain unaltered in the SFI. How and why this is so needs to be unpacked in the new publication we envisage. One of the more immediate and dramatic changes for the Sang is that of free access. The Council of the SFI has decided that entrance to the component museums, some of which already charge, can no longer be free. While a uniform policy is being established, admission is by donation. A minimum donation of R5 (for the Main Gallery) and R3 (Natale Labia Museum) is now requested by staff on duty to be placed in the donations box; admission to pensioners, students and Friends of the Gallery (on production of the relevant cards), learners and children remains free.

My personal conviction about public ownership of and access to national collections is known and was expressed in the first bonani of 1999; it was confirmed during a recent trip to France. The great museums in Paris are filled with people, paying anything between R35 to R50 to get in, sometimes more than once in the same museum to see different exhibitions. I studied the nature of the visitors as much as I studied the art works (and the lighting and security), and realised yet again that the people of Paris do not go to the museums; that they may as well be closed to the millions who work, and many of those who live, in the city. The faces one sees on the streets, in the restaurants and the metro are not those encountered in the museums - apart from the groups of school children, visitors comprise affluent French speakers and throngs of foreigners. I hope that decisions that inhibit the South African public's ability to enter the Sang at will and engage with the collections, will not undermine our work and ultimately our purpose.

Cape Town is buzzing with the excitement and success of the multi-media art event, Softserve, that was held at the Sang on 5 November. Organised by Public Eye and sponsored by the National Arts Council, some 30 artists transformed the Gallery spaces with their interventions, installations, performance pieces, happenings and music.

The bar and disco in the atrium attracted many of the 1 585 people who streamed in, as did the food and fires outside. While the majority comprised hundreds of young people who had never been to the Sang, regular visitors of all ages and children all seemed equally at home and enjoying themselves. They drank, ate and danced and chilled out in the company of portraits from the past, they laughed at the revelations of the hidden cameras in the toilets, they marvelled at the live link-up with New York, they played with inflated condoms, they wondered at the meaning of some of the videos and art works, they engaged in conversation with the performers. The Butcher Boys watched as three young women brought them to life. There were of course restrictions, as the museum environment could be opened for a good party and some rules bent, but it has to be respected, and even those who could not immediately understand why eating and drinking are not allowed in the gallery spaces, co-operated with our vigilant security staff.

The excitement and tension had started during the days and nights preceding Softserve, for such a complex event takes much planning and preparation. This was superbly done by Public Eye in co-operation with Sang staff and the artists. It was wonderful to experience the way in which the artists occupied the spaces and places, the seriousness and exhilaration with which they worked. And we got great support and exposure from all the media Đ before and after. Thank you to all involved and concerned! The money raised (R12 635,65) will go towards an acquisition, as we are now well into a second year without an acquisitions budget.

To answer the question many are asking - yes, we will do it again!

The South African artist, Dumile Feni, died in New York in 1991 and some time later word reached us at the Sang that a few of his sculptures had been rescued by members of the African National Congress and Dumile Feni's friend Isaac Witkin, together with art conservator and bronze castor John Phillips. With the active support and involvement of Marriam Morris, Dumile Feni's daughter, Moeletsi Mbeki and Albie Sachs, we started in April 1996 to find ways of bringing the sculptures home to South Africa and the Sang permanent collection. The Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology provided the R50 000,00 required for the work done by Phillips Casting and the costs involved in packing and shipping. It has been a long journey, but the works are home and Joe Dolby is working on the history and a small display. Described by Daniel Rubin as Dumile Feni's final obsession, the artist worked furiously, until his sudden death, on two figures riding an upside-down horse - a concrete manifestation of his extraordinary vision and enduring interest in equestrian themes. We are deeply grateful for commitment and co-operation of all concerned and can now begin to work in earnest on a retrospective of one of South Africa's greatest artists.

Peace-Uxolo-Vrede
Marilyn Martin

Xg'oa Mangana, Eland Bull and Other Creatures, c.1992, lithograph

Softserve

Neville Engelbrecht, Butchergirls, performance, 1999. Courtesy of Public Eye. Photo by Sue Williamson.

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