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What to look out for at Turbine Art Fair 2018

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kid-friendly Age-appropriate Children’s Walkabouts will be offered for free at this year’s Turbine Art FairPHOTOs: SUPPLIED
kid-friendly Age-appropriate Children’s Walkabouts will be offered for free at this year’s Turbine Art FairPHOTOs: SUPPLIED

RMB Turbine Art Fair
Turbine Hall, Newtown
July 12 to 15

1. Take the kids
An amazing way for kids and adults to start understanding art and learning the language around it is to join a walkabout. This year’s free programme, which takes place throughout the weekend, will include walkabouts with celebrities, art professionals and well-known artists.

Comedian John Vlismas, for instance, will be conducting one called THINK fun – Art that tickles my fancy, while art collector and Kaya FM chief executive officer Greg Maloka’s topic will be THINK Afropolitan. Completely free, the walkabouts also include a special children’s programme, offering age-appropriate options for them. Many don’t see an art fair as something that’s child-friendly, but at Turbine children are encouraged to come, learn and expand their art vocabulary.

* Click here for the walkabout schedule


Age-appropriate Children’s Walkabouts will be offered for free at this year’s Turbine Art Fair. Picture: Supplied

2. Join the talks
The talk component of Turbine is always a must-attend. It’s here where you can expand your knowledge and get involved in interesting discussions.

Completely free, the RMB Private Bank Talks Programme will tackle questions such as Is the “Starving Artist” label myth or reality? and How do you know what is good art? Speakers will include artists, curators, collectors, businesspeople, gallery founders and arts brokers, and will be interspersed with screenings of interesting TED talks.

* Click here for the talks schedule


Benon Lutaaya is a Johannesburg-based visual artist ranked number one on the 2015 list of the top four artists under 40 whose work to invest in. He will contribute to the Talks Programme

3. Irma Stern exhibition

Gallery Strauss & Co has collected a variety of works, some from private collectors, for this special exhibition of iconic South African artist Irma Stern. Called Life Force – Still Lifes by Irma Stern, it’s a showcase of the prolific painter’s expressionistic, modernist work.

One of the paintings on show will be the 1947 Dahlias. Strauss & Co bought the work from the illustrious Labia family at a Cape Town sale in 1994 and it’s now up for sale at their auction in October. Dahlias carries a staggering pre-sale estimate of R8 million to R12 million.


Irma Stern’s Dahlias (for sale from Strauss & Co in October) will form part of an exhibition of her work

4. Eighty years of David Koloane
Iconic Alexandra-born artist David Koloane will be celebrated at this year’s fair. Called This landscape! The Quintessential Metaphor For Life, the exhibition is in collaboration with LL Editions and curated by Ruzy Rusike. Says LL Editions’ Joe Legate: “In all life of South African Art, especially in the black community, none has ever celebrated our own. Therefore it is time that we celebrate Ntate Koloane as he was taught how to paint but expressed himself though the medium of printing.

”Koloane’s drawings, paintings and collages were a pivotal part of documenting the apartheid era, and the artist, now 80 years old, is known for the frenetic nature of his drawing, as well as its political themes. On the Saturday, Koloane will be involved in a talk at 2.30pm on the journey between passion and success, lessons from life.


David Koloane, Three Sisters

5. Installations
Some of the most eye-catching works are installations, and there’ll be a focus on this medium.

With works that incorporate virtual and interactive elements, curator Tamzin Lovell Miller will ask the question: Who are we after this ‘Post-Truth’ time has shaped us?

  • VIP tickets for the opening night on Thursday are R800. Single-day passes are R50 to R100. A weekend pass for Friday to Sunday is R200. Buy at webtickets.co.za

Marian Hester, The Weight of a dead artist 
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