New Turbine Art Fair incoming

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.

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.

The Special Projects menu on offer includes:

• TAF Capsule – Usha Seejarim:  This project highlights the work of selected artists, and this year features established SA artist Usha Seejarim, known for her use of domestic objects as sculptural works.
• TAF Unearthed: A mentorship programme for emerging artists which covers the business of art and art mentorship and culminates in this curated group exhibition of their work, this year curated by Teboho Ralesai.
• OFF THE GRID – A return to abstraction: This regular project features artists outside of the main gallery circuit in an effort to support and sustain their careers.
• ON THE GRID - A parallel to TAF’s Off the Grid project, this showcases three artists whose careers have been launched through one of the fair programmes, and who currently have gallery representation or partnerships and have elevated their careers beyond an emerging practice.   The artists featured are Chris Soal, Kamyar Bineshtarigh and Setlamorago Mashilo.
• TAF Talent – the fair’s annual curated graduate exhibition of the top talent from the graduating and masters classes of the SA universities and creative schools is this year curated by Shenaz Mohamed. 

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