Gallery Friends examine 'minefields' in March

The focus will be on ingenuity and memory when the Friends of the Iziko South African National Gallery host two interesting events during March.

On Sunday 9 March at 11:00 at the Gallery, Lesley Cohn presents a walkabout of the Sasol Wax Awards exhibition. Described as a remarkable substance with the paradoxical attributes of fragility, strength and malleability, wax was the stipulated medium with which artists were tasked to create an original artwork for the competition. The result is a remarkable selection of works by finalists, including those of winner Walter Oltmann, who utilised the ancient technical process known as the ‘lost wax method’. His dramatic entry, ‘Unearthing’, consists of fourteen pairs of aluminium hands supporting dowsing tools and objects associated with mining or digging.

This will be the last opportunity to view the exhibition, which ends later that day. Entry to the event is R30 for Friends; R40 for guests and R20 for students.

On Wednesday 19 March at 17:30 at the Iziko South African Museum, the mood turns serious when Emeritus Professor Neville Dubow questions whether memory has indeed ‘become the last sacred thing in a world that holds nothing sacred’. As a researcher and author, and frequent visitor to the Berlin Holocaust Memorial, Prof Dubow assesses the impact of a site concerned with imparting the burden of memory. ‘In the field of memory’ costs R40 for Friends, R50 for guests and R20 for students.

For enquiries about these events, call Lizzie 021 467 4662/0 (Tue-Thu 10:00-14:00) or email sangfriends@iziko.org.za.

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