Artem galleria parking area to be transformed into urban gallery

Lethlogonolo Mathabe, Sam Shaba, Tebogo Qhingana and Patrick Rulore are four of the members of this dynamic street art crew, working under the leadership of the group founder Khutjo Tsebe. They have named their group Visualiz Khorr and explain that before this project came along, they had been working hard at finding ways in which to collaborate as individual artists on a shared project.

The new Artem galleria, which was formerly the Adelphi Centre, will house a curated art gallery – entitled Artem Gallery – when completed. Eugenia Chapman Campbell, the curator of the new gallery, spotted the work of Visualiz Khorr on social media and approached them about using the walls of the Artem parking garage as a showcase for their work.

“It was an amazing experience. We posted some of our portfolio work on Facebook and it was picked up by Eugenia Chapman Campbell who called us and told us to come to Cape Town. We had never been on a plane before let alone in Cape Town – so we could hardly believe it until we boarded our flights,” says Visualiz Khorr founder Khutjo Tsebe.

Promoting emerging artists

Ahsan Darvesh, president of Da’Realty which owns Artem, explains that art and visual beauty will be woven into the entire centre once complete, with art pieces being exhibited throughout the building in the public spaces and that the idea is to also help promote the work of emerging artists in the new galleria.

Passionate about art in all its forms, he says that whilst street art as a movement in Africa is in its infancy compared to many overseas cities, it is definitely something to watch. Ahsan explains that he feels strongly about nurturing this group of young up-and-coming artists who have chosen street art as their artistic spring board based on their circumstances and means.

“Street art is a means of artistic expression that brings vibrancy, colour and meaning into drab and dull concrete city landscapes. With a variety of themes and ideas, from social and political awareness to plain visual poetry, this art form continues to gain momentum and we are extremely pleased to have Visualiz Khorr transforming the walls of Artem’s parking area.”