Joburg’s most loved art event returns to Sandton this September with a celebration guaranteed to excite and delight.
For a decade, the hotly anticipated FNB JoburgArtFair has been an undisputed highlight in South Africa’s art calendar. For one weekend, the Sandton Convention Centre’s main exhibition hall becomes the heart of art and a visual celebration of the work of over 600 of the greatest contemporary African artists alive. A weekend of education, appreciation and celebration, it’s guaranteed to make you feel proud of the immense artistic talent coming out of Africa.
Since the fair’s inception in 2008, the organising team have worked hard to go beyond just exhibiting the works of contemporary African artists: instead, each of their events is also rooted in growing a sustainable industry for the arts, with a solid base of both local and international buyers. The fair reaches record sales and visitor numbers each year, with 2017 set to be more impressive than ever before. And with such a varied schedule of immense talent, that’s no surprise: From a programme of lectures, discussion and interviews, to an artisanal choice of food and wine for visitors to enjoy between galleries, and, of course, the artworks themselves, the fair is guaranteed to thrill and intrigue.
At the FNB JoburgArtFair’s first edition, Cape Town-born artist Robin Rhode was chosen to be the fair’s inaugural Featured Artist, and will this year he will be filling this role once again. Now living and working in Berlin, and having had major shows across the world, Rhode’s return to the fair is a beautiful symbolic celebration of how the event has grown so much in ten years – just as the artist has himself.
An unmissable feast for the eyes, it’s clear that celebration will be a key focus of the fair this year. “This year is about celebrating our galleries who have grown with the Fair, our artists who drive the discourse, our patrons who have unwaveringly supported us and our audience whose curiosity continues to inspire our delivery,” says FNB JoburgArtFair director, Mandla Sibeko. “Over the years, FNB JoburgArtFair has become a benchmark platform for contemporary African art and we look forward to continuing that tradition in our 10th edition this September.”
The fair runs from 8 to 10 September, and tickets are available from www.tixsa.co.za.
Taste for yourself:
- FNB JoburgArtFair | 011 447 3868 | fnbjoburgartfair.co.za
This article originally appeared in Neighbourhood, Sunday Times.
