A different elephant story

Andries Botha’s elephant, also exhibited at the KZNSA and named by Dr Ian Player, Nomkhubulwane (which also toured North America) arrives in The Hague for an exhibition athttp://www.beeldenaanzee.nl/en/exhibitions/Expected

The Institute initiates research, issues scientific publications (Sculpture Studies, Monographs of the Sculpture Institute) and catalogs. The institute also organizes lectures and symposia and is located under the museum terraces, accessible through the entrance of the museum

This summer The Hague is hosting the exhibition The Rainbow Nation with contemporary sculpture from South Africa. With more than fifty sculptures by the major South African artists of the past sixty years. From 29 May to 9 September on the Lange Voorhout and from 8 June to 30 September in Beelden aan Zee Museum.

Wednesday 18 July is Nelson Mandela International Day. On that day, the Nelson Mandela monument by Arie Schippers will be unveiled in The Hague. Stichting Den Haag Sculptuur and Beelden aan Zee Museum are using this opportunity to organize the extensive summer exhibition The Rainbow Nation: Contemporary sculpture from South Africa. The development of South African sculpture over the past sixty years can be followed on the Lange Voorhout and in Beelden aan Zee Museum. From the dark days of Apartheid via the freedom achieved in 1994 – the first elections for all races, at which Mandela was elected president – to the current period of transformation.

Found objects
The sculptures are a reflection of that political and social revolution. In the subjects, the use of materials, from figurative to non-figurative. Artists wrested themselves free of the oppression and developed their creativity. They sought and recovered their identity, rooted deeply in culture and traditions. This applies to the black, white and colored artists. Compared with other expressions of art, the South African sculptors use many materials such as iron, bronze, wood, paper, cement, cowhide and found objects. To a certain extent, this use of found objects is typical of South African sculptures. Financial reasons are a part of it, but also because these objects have a history and a deeper meaning.

Three generations
The artists at the special exhibition The Rainbow Nation come from three generations. The first generation is represented by artists including Edoardo Villa, Sidney Kumalo and Noria Mabasa. Andries Botha, Willie Bester, Jane Alexander and Angus Taylor are among the second generation artists. Works by artists such as Wim Botha, Paul Edmunds, Nicolas Hlobo, Nandipha Mntambo and Claudette Schreuders represent the third and youngest generation.