(Lihle Dlamini, director
of marketing and communications at SANBI, artist Francoise Cheyne and Dumisani
Mhlongo, director of Msunduzi Pietermaritzburg Tourism. Photo: Estelle Sinkins)
(Report by Estelle Sinkins)
Research conducted at the 53rd Art in the Park exhibition in
Pietermaritzburg this year found that for the event to thrive, it needed a new
home and new attractions to increase foot traffic and drive art sales.
Although 80% of those polled enjoyed the exhibition, they
were concerned about the degradation of the Alexandra Park site, poor toilet
facilities, bad signage and poor organisation. Another concern was the strain
placed on accommodation in the city due to three major events — Art in the
Park, the Comrades Marathon and the Royal Show — all taking place at the same
time.
To combat the latter, the Msunduzi Pietermaritzburg Tourism
Association is moving Art in the Park a week forward to May 4 to 8, 2016.
The event also has a new home: the historic London Plane
tree avenue in the KwaZulu-Natal National Botanical Gardens in Mayors Walk,
Pietermaritzburg.
The association has partnered with the South African
National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) to host the 54th edition of the
exhibition, a move which Dumisani Mhlongo, director of Msunduzi
Pietermaritzburg Tourism, said would allow Art in the Park to grow and
flourish.
The artists will be displaying their work under the plane
trees, but to encourage more families to attend there are plans to introduce a
special children’s zone, and to host a concert by the KZN Philharmonic
Orchestra on one of the four days.
Patrons and artists will also be able to access the braai
areas in the garden, make use of its toilet facilities and, most importantly,
the existing security.
“For me that is a relief. I can’t tell you how many
sleepless nights I have had thinking about the expensive pieces of art sitting
in Alexandra Park at night,” Mhlongo said. He also believes the partnership
will improve marketing of the exhibition to make it appeal to younger people
and a wider cross-section of the city’s population. At present most visitors
are 50 and older and the majority are white.
Lihle Dlamini, director of marketing and communications at
SANBI, confirmed they planned to increase Art in the Park’s profile in South
Africa: “We have identified a number of platforms to market the event and
partners that we want to rope in. We believe we can help make this event one of
the flagships of Pietermaritzburg,” she said, promising the artists who have
supported Art in the Park for the past 53 years that SANBI would ‘look after
their baby’.
“We promise that this event is in good hands and will grow
even further. I believe the gardens will be the home for Art in the Park for
the next 100 years,” she added.
Howick-based artist, Vince Reid, said he was excited by the
new venue and the change in dates, but he also made an appeal to the tourism
association to include local artists in their planning meetings to ensure that
the 2016 event ran without a hitch. – Estelle Sinkins
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