South African Art News: Art Bank Joburg - Phumani Paper workshop

Phumani Paper and Art Bank Joburg collaborate

Phumani Paper and Art Bank Joburg together with Brendan Copestake, are proud to be hosting a paper pulp workshop dedicated to introducing new creative paper pulp techniques to a set of established and emerging Johannesburg-based female artists. The workshop, to be held in July at the Phumani Archive Mill, will comprise of the artists Bronwen Findlay, Nirupa Sing, Mary Wafer, Yvonne Harvey, Flora More and Maja Marx; who will be guided by Master papermakers and assistants to best interpret ideas using specialized papermaking techniques. The workshop aims to teach artists technical expertise and promote paper as a creative medium. The finished work will become part of the Art Bank Joburg’s collection and will be exhibited at the Sandton Civic Gallery later this year.

As a not-for-profit organization Phumani Paper recently established the Phumani Archive Mill to conduct research, in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg, into quality archival paper. Phumani Archive Mill currently produces 100% acid-free archival paper for the conservation, heritage and art industries -- --the first of its kind in Africa. A recent printmaking collaboration between Artist Proof Studio and Phumani Paper Mill brought Anne McKeown from the Brodsky Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey and Sue Gosin, founder and master papermaker of Dieu Donne Papermill in New York to the Phumani Archive Mill. While McKeown and Gosin introduced new papermaking techniques to the Mill, the project also created an interest in paper art, and in particular, a combination of printmaking and papermaking techniques. The workshop will encourage artists to investigate paper art and thus follow in the footsteps of artists such as Chuck Close, Douglas Morse Howell, Mona Hatoum and Kiki Smith.

Art Bank Joburg have been involved with many skills transfer programs benefiting local artists and the latest project with Phumani Paper follows collaborations with the Trinity Session, Boitumelo Project in Hillbrow, David Krut Print Workshop and a current project with the PJ Simelane High School in Soweto. Established in June 2006 by the City of Johannesburg, Art Bank Joburg rents contemporary art to companies. The initiative not only raises the profile of featured artists and contemporary art, but judging by the remarkable growth, Art Bank Joburg is a successful business venture too.

If you are interested in the paper art process, visits to the workshop and the Phumani Archive Mill can be arranged on request. The workshop will run from23 July until 28 July. For more information on the Mill, see www.phumanipaper.org.za or contact Bronwyn Marshall on 011 559 6534. Should you require further information on Art Bank Joburg, please see www.artbankjoburg.co.za or contact Antoinette Murdoch on 011 838 6266 or at [email protected].