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Celebrating an Art rich continent at Kupenda Africa

Kupenda Gallery
Written by Mickey Mentz

New Montagu Gallery provides platform for artists to showcase their art culture and heritage

Montagu is fast becoming a cultural hub of the Klein Karoo and this was confirmed when the Kupenda Africa gallery opened its doors in January.

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A new creative space

This latest addition to the vibrant art scene features works from various exceptionally gifted African artists who, in many cases, have struggled to find a suitable space where their talents could be showcased.

The gallery is a celebration of what can be achieved when creative minds from all corners of the continent join forces and thanks to its owner/curator, Adele Faurie, a stunning collection of paintings, sculptures and select hand crafted items are now for sale to the public.

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Faurie’s motivation for this venture lies in the experience she gained in her previous life as an employee in the South African diplomatic services.

“We opened Kupunde Africa for people to understand that Africa has a rich culture and also that Africa has a lot of talent,” said Faurie.

“Very often the talent of African artists has been overlooked and sidelined to the periphery of the art scene.”

Faurie added that it was important to create a space where other people can also see and enjoy real African art (as opposed to products imported from China) and perhaps learn something from other cultures that they were not aware of.

“Africa has been an inspiration to me. I’ve lived in several African countries and I’ve spent extensive time on the continent and I’ve grown to love the art, the culture and the people of Africa.

Previous has a second home

One of the first artists to exhibit his work in the gallery is Previous Maziva of Zimbabwe.

Maziva praised Faurie for the passion she had poured into this project. He was taken aback with the sheer beauty of the area and described Montagu as a dream destination for any aspiring artist.

“There are beautiful landscapes here and the town itself is actually a work of art and an inspiration,” said Maziva.

Faurie agreed.

“Montagu is is a beautiful town. It already has so many amazing galleries and a thriving art scene so we are so happy to be here in this beautiful place, in a beautiful building that has so much history.”

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She said the opening of the gallery was only a start and a flavour of what is to come and that in future she hopes to expand on the collection and in crude more pieces from other African countries.

Maziva was equally excited with what the future holds:

“Here at Kupenda Art Gallery we are going to work hard to shape our skills and to ensure that the community receives the best African.

Other plans at the gallery situated in Kholer Street include a first solo exhibition in April while a project to provide a creative outlet for the children of Ashbury Primary School is also on the cards.

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About the author

Mickey Mentz

From my Barrydale base, my goal is to tell the stories of people and places on the picturesque R62. Ek het oor die jare 'n cappuccino verslawing ontwikkel en my honde se name is Bella en Obi.

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