Lindile Magunya in collaboration with Spier Arts Academy
Untitled, 2016
Hand cut stone mosaic on board, 1 420 x 1 800 mm
The Kraal brings together two art initiatives that Spier supports:
• The Creative Block project which supports both established and emerging artists through purchasing work that it sells to collectors,
• The Spier Arts Academy, which offers employment-based training in professional mosaic and ceramic in Cape Town.
16 images from the Creative Block project were interpreted as mosaic artworks by the Academy’s apprentices – in close consultation with each artist. The images were chosen for their extraordinary visual impact, their ability to be successfully interpreted using the medium of mosaic, and for the challenging characteristics that would enable the apprentices working on them to gain the skills needed to become expert mosaicists.
Selvin November in collaboration with Spier Arts Academy
Untitled, 2015
Hand cut stone mosaic on board, 1 200 x 1 200 mm
Taking an average of two months to produce, each mosaic artwork was crafted by one leader and four apprentices – in total, a group of 25. They used a variety of natural and man-made materials to bring these images to life in mosaic form.
While the Kraal doesn’t have a specific theme, together the artworks illustrate the variety and vibrancy of mosaic as a medium – a contemporary African reinvention of this ancient European art form.
The Spier Mosaic Kraal is a way of demonstrating how proud Spier is to support the Academy and the wonderful work its apprentices and graduates produce.
Elize Vossgatter in collaboration with Spier Arts Academy
Untitled, 2015
Hand cut stone mosaic on board, 1 500 x 1 500 mm
Why does Spier support the arts?
Art is as much a part of Spier’s DNA as wine is. This is based on the belief that art is critical to a nation’s cultural identity – a way of challenging, questioning, and re-imagining ourselves and our future.
Spier has supported the arts for more than two decades, throwing its weight behind initiatives that acknowledge our African arts heritage, protect that legacy and contribute to its future. In addition to Creative Block and the Spier Arts Academy, these include:
• The Spier Artist Patronage Programme, which has supported, over an extended period, artists judged to be exceptional – including Wim Botha, Paul Emmanuel, Tamlin Blake and currently Pierre Fouché.
• The Spier Art Collection, which is showcased throughout the farm and is one of the largest collections of contemporary South African works in the country,
• Dancing in Other Words, a poetry festival held once every two years on the farm,
• The Dying Slave – a large-scale mosaic installation by the artist Marco Cianfanelli that was crafted by the Academy and was erected at Spier 2012.
Frans Smit in collaboration with Spier Arts Academy
Untitled, 2016
Hand cut stone mosaic on board, 1 200 x 1 200 mm