They came for the art, stayed for the vibes.
Yes, Thursday evening marked the return of the biggest art party on the calendar, the VIP preview for Africa’s longest-running showcase of works rendered in sculpture, canvas and various other, often novel, mediums.
Some 1,600 warm bodies comprising the well-heeled, the fashionable and the creatively inclined converged at the Sandton Convention Centre to toast the opening of the latest iteration of the Joburg art fair (sorry, I can’t bring myself to use the official new name that ditches the “fair” part).
This is a night more for elegantly schmoozing because try as you might to take in the art, take two steps and you’re likely to be distracted by a familiar face.
Stand still, and be greeted with waves or hugs from multiple directions.
Ponahalo Mojapelo (wearing a Wanda Lephoto knit featuring a print deconstructing the familiar check print of those Chinese carrier bags) joined the the media walkabout, which started earlier, so the fashion model du jour was leaving just as many of us were arriving.
In the queue I am greeted by Shekeshe Mokgosi of The Other Foundation and media personality Kim Jayde. I hardly make it inside the sprawling 5,050m² space before coming face-to-face with Mpumi Mabuza of Brand SA and Lumka Dlomo of Joburg Tourism on one side, and Judi Nwokedi, chair of the Gauteng Tourism Authority, on the other.
Judi has brought along a gaggle of diplomats to take it all in, introducing me to the Turkish ambassador Ayşegül Kandaş and Jacques Jerry Baril, the ambassador for Haiti.
You must be happy to be here and not there, I suggest to Jacques, considering his homeland is currently under a state of emergency as the government continues to battle violent gangs.
“Not at all. I wish I was there to help, although South Africa is also my home,” replies the diplomat.
While at other fairs you have to line up and cough up for a glass of bubbly and snacks, things are clearly going swimmingly for this outfit because the sparkling wine flowed and the grub was plentiful — harvest tables featured a great selection of cheese, fresh and preserved fruit and giant pretzels, Parmesan shortbreads, fresh strawberries and mini pastei de nata. Servers proffered canapés including melt-in-your-mouth salmon sashimi with wasabi and soy pearls, mini crostinis with mushroom pate and preserved fig, and slivers of teriyaki beef fillet served with pickled baby cucumber and wasabi aioli on crispy wonton wafers.
As we make our way through the fair, which this year is divided into six sections, I manage to take in a smidgen of the art on display.
At the Hub section, which houses the larger format works, my eye is drawn to a set of seven oils by Johannes Phokela titled The Seven Virtues (which evokes the style of Dutch masters while exploring a post-colonial subject matter), and I catch sight of a Vivien Kohler work at the Gallery Momo booth (the artist had sweetly brought along his whole family to the showing).
Sadly, I don’t get to see the clay sculptures by Mmakgabo Helen Sebidi in the Everard Read section, nor Athi-Patra Ruga’s tapestries, but I do take in oodles of people-spotting — from elections specialist Dren Nupen and her lawyer daughter Lili Nupen to musician Tresor and onto someone I haven’t seen in a long time: the always dapper Mayihlome Tshwete, the former spin-doctor who Google these days lists as an “internet personality”.
What are you up? I ask the ex-public enterprises spokesperson. “Just business,” is his succinct reply.
Among the crowd I also spy Thandiswa Mazwai, elegantly draped in Issey Miyake, while as I make my exit, I bid adieu to Nomzamo Mbatha, fresh from being nominated in the best actress category for her turn in Shaka iLembe.
While art lovers are a punctual lot, keeping time wasn’t a strong point at the other gig this week, the opening of a new store called Koki Kamala just a stone’s throw away at Sandton City.
This took place on Monday evening — and although I couldn’t make the actual event, I hear that guests who arrived on time were greeted by the sound of drilling as workers put the finishing touches to the shop’s fittings.
Botswana-born designer Koketso Chiepe’s store did, though, have a Hollywood drawcard: actress Yaya DaCosta, who plays a lead role in medical drama TV series Chicago Med, was there to support her friend and also stock her range of head-wraps at the boutique.
“I am here, very proud to be representing the diaspora and a new style of head-wrap that I have created and I hope you all come by and visit, check out the wraps and [experience] the tutorials I have created for anyone who might need a little help remembering the ancestral wisdom in our fingertips,” explained the actress and business entrepreneur.
— Additional reporting by Masi Losi
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