Five arts and culture legends honoured through exhibition at Market Photo Workshop
BY CityLife Arts Writer
Johannesburg: On Heritage Day (24 September) the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) hosted an exhibition opening at the Market Photo Workshop of works that pay homage to some of South Africa’s greatest and most respected artistic and culture legends.
The exhibition, supported by the Delegation of the European Union to South Africa, is part of the ACT Warrior Wall project, an ACT legacy arts initiative. The Warrior Wall project celebrates and highlights the work of five young photographers from the Market Photo Workshop, who are playing their part in shaping the future of arts and culture in South Africa.
The talented photographers – Simphiwe Thabede, Zegugu Ngemntu, Remofiloe Sebobe, Bongiwe Phakathi and Ts’episo Mahooe – are exhibiting their artistic ‘through my camera lens’ interpretation of Miriam Makeba (Music), Sylvia “Magogo” Glasser (Dance), Don Materra (Literature), David Koloane (Visual Art) and Dr John Kani (Theatre).
The photographers have made use of The Market Theatre archive materials for concept development, design and creation of an artistic photographic transfer each of the five icons. These works are on display from, 24 September to 8 October 2021. The exhibition is free of charge and open to the public.
The exhibition is aimed at inspiring interaction, conversation, awareness and celebration of our unique South African arts and culture heritage, notably in the month of September when we celebrate South Africa’s diverse cultural backgrounds and enormous talent pool. “We believe the ACT Warrior Wall mural project will empower these enthusiastic emerging young photographers while honouring and remembering five of The Arts & Culture Trust’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipients – each of them a South African icon in their respective field” says ACT CEO, Marcus Desando.
The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) previously supported qualifying practitioners within the cultural and creative industries as a grant facilitator. ‘As the Trust, we have radically shifted our focus and role in the industry from that of a grant maker to focussing on the long-term trajectory of the living experience of artists, practitioners and creatives as entrepreneurs. We are excited to watch our new programmes such as the ACT Warrior Wall project create and develop learning platforms that will go on to equip participants for possible future business opportunities.” says Marcus Desando who also acknowledged the support of the EU Delegation for the exhibition.
