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Kimberley Art Gallery showcases visual art and literature

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Organisers of the Northern Cape’s 11 Annual Writers Festival have commissioned artists from the province and the United States to interpret the works of artists like Don Mattera using visual art.

The final products were exhibited at the William Humphrey Art Gallery in Kimberley.

Sol Plaatje University lecturer, Sabata Mokae says the event will open doors for artists in the Northern Cape.

“We have seen a collaboration between poetry and music over a long time, and as well as literature and theatre, but there’s hardly collaboration between visual arts and literature and because we believe that artists are inspired by the human condition and human condition is expressed in literature.”

“We thought that if we select works of African literature and give to artists and see how they interpret it, they may have interesting take on the stories.”

Pierre Coetzee is an artist who participated in the project; he says he hopes it helps in growing his career.

“I interpreted the work of (Don Mattera) Man to Man, and when you are fighting it’s a very tense feeling, you close to somebody , but you also want to push them away, so it’s like attracting and pushing away at the same time and you don’t want to hug your enemy, but when you fighting you are hugging your enemy.”

American artists endorsed the concept and have called on local artists to tap into international markets.

Artist Derrick Bell says:”I met a lot of wonderful artists here who are amazing, the work that they do and the stories that they tell behind the work.”

“The concept of my work comes from actually two things, the poem it’s called “Man to Man” it’s about the struggle of a man.”

The exhibition will run until the first week of December.

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