The Zulu storytellers

摘要

Not long ago, in a gallery in Franschhoek in South Africa, I overheard a heated discussion between a visitor to the space and its manager. The focus was a piece of ceramic art. 'It's in the style of Ardmore,' the visitor was saying, 'but it's not Ardmore. Why show something that is trying to be that, when you can have the real thing?' I didn't hear the reply, but it came as no surprise that a conversation about the ceramics of this particular studio was an intense one. The work that comes from Ardmore's extraordinary collective of 70 artists is powerful and draws a passionate response.