This year’s Stadsaal exhibition shifted its focus towards including more contemporary artworks in the catalogue. In previous years, the exhibition focused more exclusively on displaying traditional-style art pieces.
This is according to Zoey Trapani, from the Lizamore Art Gallery, who conducted three walkabouts around the exhibition on 10, 11 and 12 October. SMF News attended the final walkabout.
“[Woordfees] approached [the Lizamore Art Gallery] and they wanted someone to curate the show. They’ve been doing this exhibition for a couple of years now […] but this year they were really seeking out a few more contemporary works,” says Trapani.
Visual 1: A portion of the set up for the Stadsaal exhibition (above) which is a part of the 2023 Toyota SU Woordfees. This year’s exhibition had a larger emphasis on displaying contemporary art, says Zoey Trapani, from the Lizamore Art Gallery. PHOTO: Joseph Bracken
‘Something for everyone’
The process of putting together the exhibition went smoothly, says Teresa Lizamore, owner of the Lizamore Art Gallery who conducted the walkabout with Trapani.
“It was a strike of gold,” says Lizamore. Woordfees said they wanted about 100 artworks, but gave Lizamore freedom to make her own decisions when it came to picking the artists, she says.
The artwork selection ended up going over its limit with 182 pieces in total, says Lizamore. “There’s something for everyone.”
Visual 2: Teresa Lizamore, owner of the Lizamore exhibition, explaining an artwork by South African artist Conrad Botes (above). PHOTO: Joseph Bracken
A successful run
People were very appreciative of the artworks and some said they found the works to be “quite wonderful”, says Lizamore. “I think people generally enjoyed [the exhibition]”.
The walkabouts were also successful, with the biggest turnout happening on the last day, said Lizamore. The walkabouts got better each day, she added.
Visual 3: A group of people stand around Zoey Trapani in the Stadsaal exhibition. Trapani is from the Lizamore Art Gallery who are operating this year’s Stadsaal exhibition. The exhibition is a part of the 2023 Toyota SU Woordfees and focuses more on displaying contemporary artworks than in previous years. PHOTO: Joseph Bracken
Final thoughts
All the people on the walkabout seemed to be well engaged – almost no people left early and stayed till the end even though it went slightly overtime. Lizamore and Trapani were confident about answering questions on each of the presented artists.
The artwork itself was a good blend of different art styles, which made for unique viewings as the group turned each corner. The chosen artworks displayed South Africa’s multi-cultural and eclectic art scene effectively.
The exhibition ran from 7 to 15 October as part of the 2023 Toyota SU Woordfees.