Cape '07 (review)

CAPE '0 7 Cap e To w n , So u t h Af r i ca Mar ch 24 - May 2, 2007 Brett Bailey, Three Wit ches {Aft er t he But cher Boys), 2007, performance. Wit h an event t hat was met icul ousl y pl anned, post poned, and t hen radical ly reconcept ual ized a mont h bef ore it s event ual openi ng, Cape '07 lived up t o it s promise of being "not anot her bi ennal e. " Cape '07 was t he f irst of a series of "cycl ical art event s" held in Cape Town, a biennal e t hat ref uses t he gr andi osi t y of t hat label. Ten years aft er t he demise of t he Johannesbur g biennale, t he organizers of Cape '07 are det ermined t o revive local ent husi asm for t he art s. Whet her t hi s was t he genuine alt ernat ive t o t he usual biennal e f or mat t hat t he or gani zer s had dreamed of is anot her mat t er. When concept ual izing how t o creat e a model genui nel y dif f erent f rom t hat pr opagat ed by t he t i me-honor ed model of Venice and it s progeny, t here are many suggest i ons, but few exampl es. The collapse of all t he i ni t i al plans f ormed under t he gui dance of curat or Gavin Jant j es was a maj or di sr upt i on, but was also t he oppor t uni t y f or t he resilience and creat ivit y of local curat or s and pr act i t i oner s t o shi ne t hr ough. Wit h many peopl e wi t hdr awi ng t heir art works f rom t he event , i t was lef t t o an int repid and commi t t ed gr oup t o pul l t he event t hr ough, whi ch t hey did wi t h an unexpect ed amount of success and apl omb. The art ist s t hat arrived f rom t he worl d over were a t est i mony t o t he convi ct i on t hat t hi s i s a necessar y and i mpor t ant i ni t i at i ve. Willem Boshof f went t o t he l engt h of packi ng up his work i nt o hi s car and dr iving it t he 1, 400 kil omet ers f rom Johannesbur g t o Cape Town. Some work was produced uni quel y for t he exhi bi t i on, and t he f ocus was on a process of i nt er act i on wi t h t he envi r onment rat her t han a f i ni shed product . To t hi s end, t he show s were spread over six venues t hat spanned t he Cape Peni nsul a, uni t i ng a l andscape separat ed spat ial l y and i deol ogical l y by ent r enched soci oeconomi c di vi des. Rangi ng f rom t he cit y cent re t o Khayel i t sha (in t he economi cal l y under devel oped t ow nshi p s of t he Cape) t o t he wi nel ands of St el l enbosch , t he rout e bet ween t he venues t ook viewers t hr ough a soci et y st i l l st r uggl i ng t o overcome t he divides of decades of apar t hei d. Fragment ed and di sper sed, t he exhi bi t i ons f orced vi ewers t o const ant l y reorient t hemsel ves, negot i at i ng t he...