The Turbine Art Fair (TAF), styled as Johannesburg’s premium art fair for emerging art, has been peripatetic in recent years, after a long spell at the original venue downtown which gave it its name, the Turbine Hall. A subsequent move to the northern suburbs saw it occupy corporate offices in Illovo near Sandton, and then last year an underground car park at Oxford Parks in Rosebank.
In what seems like a more permanent move this year, the fair is occupying a well-appointed event space atop the Hyde Park Corner shopping centre, incorporating the adjoining car park. The new venue will also be home to TAF’s parent company, The Forum, an events and conferencing business.
Much is being made of Hyde Park Corner being a legacy art space in the city, and it does have history – its original design featured works by Cecil Skotnes and Simon Stone. But it is also a luxury mall, so it’s logical to assume it will attract the well-heeled and the art cognoscenti, and no doubt the organisers will feel hopeful that the audience will have appetite for the work on offer.
New Turbine Art Fair incoming
A return to form for the first contemporary and affordable art fair
Image: Supplied
The Turbine Art Fair (TAF), styled as Johannesburg’s premium art fair for emerging art, has been peripatetic in recent years, after a long spell at the original venue downtown which gave it its name, the Turbine Hall. A subsequent move to the northern suburbs saw it occupy corporate offices in Illovo near Sandton, and then last year an underground car park at Oxford Parks in Rosebank.
In what seems like a more permanent move this year, the fair is occupying a well-appointed event space atop the Hyde Park Corner shopping centre, incorporating the adjoining car park. The new venue will also be home to TAF’s parent company, The Forum, an events and conferencing business.
Much is being made of Hyde Park Corner being a legacy art space in the city, and it does have history – its original design featured works by Cecil Skotnes and Simon Stone. But it is also a luxury mall, so it’s logical to assume it will attract the well-heeled and the art cognoscenti, and no doubt the organisers will feel hopeful that the audience will have appetite for the work on offer.
The memory of photography
TAF’s positioning as an emerging art showcase has been confirmed over the 11 years it has been running. But its recent changes of venue have been interesting rather than beneficial to the fair, which will probably develop a stronger brand identity with a more permanent home. The fair’s structure, as in previous years, features various ‘special projects’, but a general new approach this year is proving a tad controversial. This is the overall ‘curation’ and design of the space by design firm Tonic in collaboration with TAF. The lack of consultation with exhibitors on this score has caused some frustration.
Image: Supplied
The Special Projects menu on offer includes:
Image: Supplied
Image: Supplied
Two other special projects see museum-quality collaborations with established art institutions:
Image: Supplied
Outside normal project programming, TAF will this year see a pronounced leaning to fashion and design collaborations across the fair. These will include a collection by fashion designer Thebe Magugu which is focused on celebratory and totemic studies of nine South African cultures, presented as an installation of 8m-long dresses. SA designer denim brand Tshepo Jeans has collaborated with artist Alka Dass to create a piece that is both art and fashion, inspired by notions of light as a window to owning, reclaiming and sharing our histories. The fashion and design content also runs through the TAF Talks programme and features prominently in the onsite bookstore.
Bespoke food and cocktail offerings are onsite in what promises to be a return to form for the Turbine Art Fair. Art lovers should benefit from the new energies brought by TAF, which has become a highly competitive SA art fair circuit.
Turbine Art Fair 2023: 27-30 July 2023
Bookings at turbineartfair.co.za
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