Strauss & Co’s new Afrocentric curatorial auction to debut in Cape Town on February 28, 2023
By CityLife Arts Writer
The wait is over for Strauss &Co.’s date for the much awaited new curatorial auction venture focussing on African art, that was first announced toward the tail end of last year.
“Strauss & Co, Africa’s leading art auction house, is pleased to announce an exciting new auction, Curatorial Voices: Modern and Contemporary Art from Africa, to be held in Cape Town on 28 February 2023. A new sale format, Curatorial Voices is a dynamic collaboration between Strauss & Co Heads of Sale, Kirsty Colledge and Kate Fellens, and seven respected curators from various art hubs offering collectors new-to-market works by leading contemporary artists as well as select historical works by acknowledged pioneers.
An arresting 2017 portrait of DJ Black Coffee, aka Nkosinathi Maphumulo, by fellow South African Nelson Makamo leads a strong cross-continental selection of contemporary art.
Highlights include striking works by Pierre-Christophe Gam (Cameroon), Cyrus Kabiru (Kenya) and Wycliffe Mundopa (Zimbabwe), as well as William Kentridge, Zanele Muholi, Simphiwe Ndzube and Cinga Samson from South Africa. Important historical artists like Samir Fouad (Egypt), Ablade Glover (Ghana) and Gerard Sekoto (South Africa) also feature<”
“Africa is a continent with 54 countries, each with an incredible history of creativity and art making,” says Frank Kilbourn, Chairperson, Strauss & Co. “Our aim with this ambitious new auction is to present a rich cross-continental selection of works chosen, in large part by Strauss & Co specialists, presented in conjunction with work selected by seven curators with longstanding connections in North, West, East and Southern Africa. Their selections will provide collectors with fresh and interesting perspectives on contemporary art from the African continent.”
“This inaugural sale marks an exciting new direction and recognises the need to greater collaboration with curators and specialists from across the African continent,” says Kate Fellens, joint Head of Sale. “Cross-continental collaboration is vital to growing new audiences and markets for the remarkable work of African artists. It also sets in place a vital network for future collaborations.”
Curatorial Voices is a collaboration between Strauss & Co’s Kirsty Colledge and Kate Fellens and curators Dana Endundo Ferreira, Founder and CEO of Pavilion54 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Heba Elkayal, independent curator and art historian, based between UK and Egypt, Danda Jaroljmek and Anne Kariuki, Circle Art Gallery, Kenya, Valerie Kabov, Director, First Floor Gallery Harare, Zimbabwe, and South Africa’s Kimberley Cunningham, Founder of Cunningham Contemporary.
Serge Tiroche, Founder and CEO of Africa First, Israel, joins the group of guest collaborators for Profile of a Collector, an in-session focus underscoring the role that individual collectors can play to bolster and support the market. Extending on the remit and format of Strauss & Co’s ground-breaking contemporary sales – launched in 2018 and held annually in Cape Town until 2020 – the new auction is timed to coincide with the Investec Cape Town Art Fair (17-19 February 2023).
A preview exhibition of works in Curatorial Voices will open on Tuesday, 13 February 2023, at Strauss & Co’s new premises in Brickfield Canvas, Woodstock. The auction itself will take place on Tuesday, 28 February 2023, with the lots split across a timed online-only day sale and curated evening live sale containing premium lots.
To coincide with the launch exhibition for Curatorial Voices, Strauss & Co also announce its sponsorship and support of the inaugural Art Business Conference, the first event of its kind on the continent, with a presence in other major international art centres of London, New York, and Shanghai. The event is co-sponsored by Serge Tiroche, Africa First, and takes place on Wednesday, 15 February. The two moderated panels will cover the following topics: Panel 1 “The African Art Market Now: Art Ecosystems for a Sustainable Future”, and Panel 2 “Trends in Collecting African Art and What’s Next for Contemporary?”