Being in lockdown doesn’t mean you have to deprive yourself of fine art, as more and more galleries offer tours and artworks online

More like virtual art gallery tours: Hanging artwork

Many of them are featured on the Google Arts & Culture project, which offers a virtual visit to about 2 000 major art institutions around the world. From the comfort of your home you can take a tour of iconic Parisian rooftops, examine Vermeer’s technique, or explore the use of colour in the world’s greatest paintings.

In South Africa, many galleries are also opening their virtual doors to the public. Among them are:

Absa gallery

Take a 3D tour of Philiswa Lila’s exhibition called ‘Skin, Bone, Fire: The First Album’. Rhodes MA student Philiswa works mainly in oils, but also explores various other mediums such as animal skin, beading, wood, paper, canvas and video. Other 3D tours on offer are ‘Resistance is Us: An Intergenerational Virtual Conversation’; the 2019 Absa L’Atelier Winning Artists; and ‘Our Contemporary Needs and the Other’, which deals with history and heritage.

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Similar to virtual art gallery tours: Decorating with Digital Prints

BKhz

Banele Khoza’s ‘gallery/shop/studio/ artist project/ project space’ in vibey Braamfontein, done out in soft pastels, is a light and airy space for the expression of creativity. Click on the link to view the current exhibition, ‘Blue is the Warmest Colour’, with works by artists such as Vusi Beauchamp, Nelson Makamo and Jodi Bieber.

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FNB Art Joburg

Video interviews with gallerists on current exhibitions. Check it out for a preview of James Webb’s show, ‘What Fresh Hell is This’. Sign up for the weekly newsletter to stay informed about the programme.

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More like virtual art gallery tours: Decorating around bold walls

Goodman Gallery

View the current Joburg exhibition, ‘How to Disappear’, featuring a collection of artists including Ewa Novak, David Goldblatt and Mary Wafer. Also an interview with Shirin Neshat about her project, ‘Land of Dreams’, which captures the diversity of American society and is on at the London branch of the Goodman.

Take the tour

View this post on Instagram

Today Goodman Gallery opens its virtual doors across our locations in South Africa and the United Kingdom to bring you enhanced digital programming replete with enriched experiences of gallery exhibitions, weekly bespoke online viewing rooms, Instagram LIVE takeovers and an online film festival. First, we invite you to explore our new digital platform, where we are launching two exhibitions curated for dynamic online viewing: ‘A Golden Spike’ takes its cue from the powerful knock-on effect of reduced travel emissions on the environment while over a quarter of the world population lives in lockdown. The exhibition challenges the idea that nature can be taken for granted and treated as a mere backdrop to our lives. It features important work by the 2020 Hasselblad Prize winner #AlfredoJaar alongside award-winning artist #KapwaniKiwanga and emerging talents @pamelaphatsimo, #TabitaRezaire and #NolanOswaldDennis (@data_body) among others. _____________ Pictured: @shonibarestudio, ‘Planets in my Head, Young Geologist’, 2019 (detail) #GoodmanGallery

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Norval Foundation

The Norval Foundation is offering #60SecondArt digital stories via You Tube, Instagram and Facebook, giving art lovers knowledge clips on a specific artist, painting, or sculpture. The art being discussed either forms part of the Homestead Collection or is currently on display. Or, take a virtual tour of the foundation’s beautiful Cape Town grounds.

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Stevenson Gallery

View Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi’s solo show ‘Gymnasium’ and other artists’ stories via Instagram.

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Zeitz Mocaa

Take a YouTube tour of this extraordinary Cape Town museum of contemporary art.

Take the tour

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