Last night was the opening of the ‘Our Better Nature Art’ Exhibition at the Art@Africa Gallery based in the Clocktower Centre at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
This art exhibition was held in collaboration with the V&A Waterfront around the theme Sustaining Our Seas and Skies runs from 15 – 30th August 2024.
A part of the SuperFile Art Tech Festival, Sustaining Our Seas and Skies promotes the global connection between everyone on Earth to our oceans and space.
Through Art and Technology, the movement draws the parallels of how art, activism and science are all elements of the same coin. In how we experience nature and the world around us and how we are all responsible for the world around us.
A key note of the show was how art evokes and challenges us to action, for the benefit of all. The show was a group exhibition drawing artists from Canada, Africa and from space itself.
Dr.Sian Proctor is the first female commercial astronaut spaceship pilot and the only African American woman to ever serve as a mission pilot.
Dr.Proctor brings a unique blend of space exploration and artistic vision to the festival with her art.
This is coupled with many other talented artists like Caelyn Robertson, Dr. Dylan McGarry and David Griessel. One stand out for me was “The Sound of Water” sculpture by Cape Town-based artist Olivia Dunkley.
Her work is not just an art piece but fosters in community-driven effort. Her initiative encourages the public to participate in environmental stewardship by collecting plastic bottle caps, which will be repurposed into stunning 3-D printed artworks.
It’s a beautiful example of Dr McGarry’s concept of Artivism in that through art artists evoke instead of presentation and that often it is through art we reach action. In this example Dunkley transforms the labour of recycling into an exciting act of rebirth and creation.
This entire exhibition is a celebration of the collaborative voices and vision that combines art, technology, and environmental consciousness. It left me inspired in how art and activism interlink and inspired to explore this more in the weeks to come.
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