In Cape Town, where abandoned buildings turned art galleries have become the new kale juice, what sets the A4 Arts Foundation apart?
“We see this place as a lab,” explains Foundation director Josh Ginsburg from their newly opened space, a – you guessed it – restored warehouse in the city’s downtown area. “We’re experimenting with ways of producing and sharing knowledge – so expect some play.”
This is the culmination of a six-year collaboration between Josh and South African-born arts patron and recently elected president of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Board of Trustees, Wendy Fisher.
“Wendy and I began working together with a view to build better support structures for artists and explore ways in which the public could engage with these artists,” says Josh.
“In short, a gallery for the artists as much as it is for the people, a place that could be accessible, engaging and transforming in the broader sense of the ‘local arts-ecology”.
To this end, the building is occupied over three levels: a ground-floor library, the main exhibition space on the first floor (both floors are free and open to the public), and finally the third-floor work spaces that are used by the artists.
Curated by Ziphozenkosi Dayile and Kemang Wa Lehulere, the Foundation’s inaugural exhibition, titled You & I, features works by a wide range of artists including Zanele Muholi and Yoko Ono.
It’s a self-reflective move on the part of the Foundation – Josh describes it as an exhibition that ‘explores the conditions and dynamics of collectivity’ – but also brilliantly achieves their goal to question, engage and connect.
For more information, visit a4arts.org
Photography
Karl Rogers
