Gallery

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Four leading Southern Cape artists will be in good company this holiday season, when their work will be exhibited in Plettenberg Bay alongside other high-end design and craft work sourced from throughout the African continent.

The event is the Discoveries from Africa exhibition, which will showcase exquisite collectables from Ghana, Rwanda, DRC, Tanzania, Mali, Ethiopia, Malawi, Burkina Faso and South Africa.

Photo gallery: Discoveries from Africa art exhibition in Plett

Local talent
Local participants will include world-renowned photographer Obie Oberholzer from Nature's Valley, Knysna furniture maker Richard Henley, Plettenberg Bay artist Myfanwy Bekker and The Crags ceramicist Ruby Ovenstone.

Their work will form part of a curated collection of basketware, jewellery, handbags, photography, ceramics, furniture, fabrics and accessories.

Discoveries from Africa will be curated by Binky Newman, the founder of Cape Town-based Design Afrika.

Newman is synonymous with finely crafted basketware, which she sources, designs and promotes, as well as fabrics and other products from South Africa and elsewhere in Africa. She is collaborating with Suzie Ovenstone, well known locally as the owner of The Old House Shop in Plettenberg Bay, purveyor of lovely homeware, accessories and clothing.

The exhibition takes place from 12 December to end-January at The White House, the second-oldest property in Plettenberg Bay. This beautiful venue was originally a dairy and is often hired out by Suzie for weddings and banquets.

Southern Cape creativity

• Obie Oberholzer, now based in Nature's Valley, will show a selection of photographic prints. Oberholzer has produced 10 coffee table books since 1975, and has held 35 solo exhibitions in South Africa and 12 one-man exhibitions in Europe. He is acclaimed for documenting his travels through various parts of the African continent and still contributes regularly to many international publications.
• Richard Henley has spent most of his 40-year career in the Knysna area making furniture from indigenous woods, combining traditional joinery techniques with contemporary design. A cabinetmaker by trade, he studied for the City and Guilds of London advanced course in fine craftsmanship and design at Rycotewood College in England.
• Plettenberg Bay artist Myfanwy Bekker, whose work is collected by corporate and private collectors in the US, Europe and South Africa, will exhibit charcoal drawings. She has been involved in the Site Specific land art series in Plettenberg Bay, gathering local artists to participate, and assisting the team. She also set up life-drawing classes and facilitated the Vernissage shows in the town.
• Ruby Ovenstone is a founder and resident of the serene Kuthumba eco-village and forest reserve in The Crags, and is also a founder of the creative collaborative named Anima Mundi Living Design, or Soul of the World.
  She began exploring the world of clay in her early teens. Milestones on her creative journey have included her Down to Earth terracotta pots, the land art of earth dam building, glassblowing and painting in oils. For this exhibition, she is returning to her old "comfort zone" of porcelain and making "quirky objects of delight" with intriguing names such as The Alchemical Marriage of the Crocodile Princess.

A portion of the exhibition turnover will be donated to The Tikki Hywood Foundation, a nonprofit rescue, rehabilitation and release organisation.

The exhibition will also include videos of projects and a collection of reference books. Says Newman: "There will be an educational element as we would like to inform visitors about the various cultures and their craft and design techniques." – 

Dates: Thursday 12 December to end-January (closed Sundays and public holidays).

Opening times: Mon-Fri: 10:00-13:00; 15:00-19:00. Sat: 10:00-13:00.

Location: 6 Crescent Street, Plettenberg Bay.

Entrance: Free.

Payments: Credit cards and cash.

Enquiries: design.afrika.info@gmail.com | 021 448 9761 (Design Afrika) | 044 533 2010 (The Old House Shop).

Photographer Obie Oberholzer from Nature’s Valley.

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