Nelson Mandela Bay Arts Journey helps establish Eastern Cape as major arts tourism destination

Last edited: June 29, 2011

Posted by Business and Arts South Africa

Visitors to the upcoming National Arts Festival are being encouraged to “take a walk on the arts side” and visit several major art exhibitions in Nelson Mandela Bay whilst in the Eastern Cape region.

The specially curated Nelson Mandela Bay Arts Journey forms part of the 2011 National Arts Festival’s Fringe Programme which runs until July 10th. It takes in six galleries in the region, including Business and Arts South Africa member, Ron Belling Art Gallery which will be exhibiting work from a diversity of artists under the title NMMU Contemporary.

Says Robyn Sharwood of Ron Belling, “We opened already in mid-June and the response to the exhibition has been amazing with close to 600 visitors to the gallery over just two nights – and that’s even before the National Arts Festival gets officially underway!

“I think that this really shows the appetite for art in the region,” adds Sharwood. “I am very excited about what discoveries await visitors because we know that the Eastern Cape is where art collectors can discover emerging and even established artists and purchase their work at very reasonable prices indeed.”

Aside from Ron Belling Art Gallery, other galleries taking part in the Arts Journey at the National Arts Festival are Athenaeum with ‘Arts and Artists of the Eastern Cape’; Artec with ‘Finding Kaggen’; Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum with an exhibition titled ‘Skin’; Red Location Art Gallery with an Ernest Cole exhibition and Ceramics Southern Africa Eastern Cape with an exhibition of leading potters from the province. Visitors are also encouraged to visit Route 67 featuring 67 public art works and interventions that is part of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan’s excellent arts culture heritage route, commissioned by BASA Member Mandela Bay Development Agency.

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), also a BASA Member, is one of the key partners in the Arts Journey. Pieter Swart, the Director of Marketing and Corporate Relations at NMMU described the arts as “a major drawcard in bringing tourists to a city and creating public spaces for locals to enjoy”.

“The Nelson Mandela Bay Arts Journey has not only provided a vital catalyst to further development in the central areas of the metro, but also brought private investors back into the area. These public spaces are now part of a new dream for all,” says Swart.

Key convener of the Arts Journey, Anthony Harris, agrees with Swart - adding that the arts journey in Nelson Mandela Bay has already “firmly established itself as a "magnet for cultural tourism” and has the potential to be even bigger.

“The "Creative Collective" of Mandela Bay look forward to the continued growth of the Arts Journey, where in the future, Nelson Mandela Bay will become the Cultural and Arts capital of South Africa,” says Harris.

For more information on this important public-private partnership in the arts in the Eastern Cape go to /www.artsjourney-nelsonmandelabay.co.za/.