I wanted to share a little of this awesome exhibition we saw at the South African National Gallery.

It successfully aimed to raise questions about what is ‘fine art’ and what is ‘craft’ and is there a difference and also what roles gender play in how we think about these.

Quebeka Fine Art Bead Studio

The C18th brought about the prestige surrounding the Fine Arts by the creation of Academies for study and these typically excluded women.

Quebeka Fine Art Bead Studio

Craft practices continued to be connected to everyday living due to their necessity but with no status or artistic value attached to them.

Usha Seejarim Sequence City

Usha Seejarim Sequence City

Over time both art movements and the feminist movement questioned fine arts usefulness and the position of craft as a woman’s practice and so craft and fine art began its journey of meeting in the middle.

Hendrik Stroebel

Hendrik Stroebel

Hendrik Stroebel

The artists in this exhibition continue that journey of thought by showing their typically perceived ‘fine art’ thinking as social commentators but through the mediums of crafts which we usually write off as ‘domestic’.

Tamlin Blake Taking Time

Tamlin Blake’s work is a great example of this: she dyes old newspapers and then weaves them into tapestry’s which she says are the oldest form of storytelling, to get us thinking about the stories we read and their impact on us.

Tamlin Blake Taking Time

Pierre Fouche has drawn on the traditional crafts of  sailors knots, macrame and lace making to create this art piece.

Pierre Fouche

All in all it was a visual feast, and both inspiring and thought-provoking. Hope you enjoyed a little peak too.