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What makes Church Street such a fascinating location is not only the number of different art galleries all sharing one stretch of street in Cape Town's CBD, but also the diverse nature of the identity of every gallery space. As you stroll along the street, life is teeming from all corners. The centre is filled with vendors selling goods most likely directed to the eyes of tourists that frequent the city centre. The street itself can be read as a ‘curatorial moment of geographical proportions’, as the well-known Swiss-born curator Hans Ulrich Obrist puts it. He defines curating as an operation of “connecting cultures, bringing their elements in proximity with each other - the task of curating is to make junctions, to allow different elements to touch.”
Visitors to Church Street are presented with a buffet of art on a cobblestone platter. From commercial galleries like Nel on Long, Eclectica Contemporary, WORLDART, 99Loop Gallery, to AVA Gallery a non-profit art organisation and the oldest art body in South Africa. There is not only a diversity of art to engage with but also curatorial practices, and at times, curatorial absences, surrounding the art.
It is no coincidence that Church Street has become the First Thursdays hub in Cape Town. With all these galleries in such proximity to one another, it ensures an evening filled with art whilst still being able to end up on the intersecting Long Street with a buzzing energy to end off the night with friends. All three gallerists from Eclectica Contemporary, Nel on Long, and WORLDART expressed how invaluable it has been to be part of this art node and the immense foot traffic this has afforded them, especially on First Thursdays. With the knowledge that this does not hugely affect their sales, the significance of having programming such as First Thursdays is the mass engagement with the art.
The nucleus of the street that is integral to reading Church Street as a curatorial moment are the vendors that are situated between the two lines of galleries on either side. Farai Muzeza, an informal vendor who has been working from Church Street for 13 years, has appreciated the benefits that arise from the unique configuration of this locale.
“It’s been good because it is very busy and that means there is more of a chance to make a lot of money. But on First Thursdays, that is when we really make our money. We have a very good relationship with the galleries. Whenever they have openings, they will tell us so we can know if there is an opportunity to open till late,” says Muzeza.
He also touches on the variety that this contact zone affords visitors, explaining that, “it’s nice because they are selling fine art, and we can sell affordable ‘craft’ pieces. Many of us here also do fine art, so the proximity to these galleries is great as our work also becomes visible to them and the people coming to see the galleries.”
Muzeza’s products range from intricate works of wire to detailed wood carvings of animals synonymous with Southern Africa. Craft doesn’t seem an apt definition for his wares when you consider Melissa Barker’s mud vessels at Eclectica Contemporary or some of the sculptural works of Hayden Malan up the road at 99 Loop. This juxtaposition of art and craft on Church Street makes for a visible ‘contact zone’.
The function of curatorial practice is to act as a bridge - to close a gap in meaning, rendering the curator a mediator of the art, relaying it to us in a manner that inspires generative thinking. Curator Tshegofatso Mabaso puts it well when she writes: “The curatorial is understood as an extension beyond the organisational tasks encompassed in the setting up of exhibitions, involving a sensibility or methodology for making connections between works, contexts, places and publics.”
Luan Nel, the owner of Nel on Long exposes a different perspective to the curatorial cultures that exist on Church Street. He juggles an extensive 30-year career as an artist alongside that of a gallery director and this shows in the projects at the gallery. He admits that as an artist himself he feels as though a distinctive difference between him and possibly other gallerists is the empathy imbued in his dealings with artists. This translates into the collaborative manner in which Nel chooses to curate.
“I just wanted to curate, even if it was just a shop front window. We looked for a couple of years for a space, and then this amazing building came up. It’s much bigger than I ever intended,” recalls Nel. He has courageously shouldered the weight of curating a two-storey space an expansive window front that has birthed exciting projects, one of which was a performance piece by Belinda Blignaut entitled Mud Rites. Mediating the connection of the body to the earth, Blignaut camouflaged herself against fragments of clay and sculptured vessels. You could slowly begin to see her emerge – giving this sense of a 'breathing' earth. This performance behind the window display had an interesting effect on passersby who may not have intended to even visit the gallery but now were content with engaging with art in this almost private/public space of a window front. This interventionist element of surprise and wonder to the unassuming eye is a curatorial element that invites wider engagement with the work and subject matters that may not have occurred in the controlled setting of a gallery floor within the private enclosure of four walls.
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