Andries Botha (artist) explained

Andries Botha
Birth Name:	Andries Johannes Botha
Birth Date:	22 September 1952
Birth Place:	Pretoria, South Africa
Nationality:	South African
Alma Mater:	University of Natal

Andries Johannes Botha (born 22 September 1952) is a South African artist and political activist^[1] who lives and works in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He is known for his sculpture.^{[2] [3]}

Early life and education

Botha was born in Pretoria, and graduated from the University of Natal in the 1970s.^[4]

Career

As a young man, Botha engaged in printmaking and sculpture,^[5] and founded and chaired the Community Arts Workshop (1984–86). He won several awards for his art, including the Volkskas Atelier Merit Award in 1987, the Cape Town Triennial Merit Award (1988), the Standard Bank Young Artist Award (1990) and the National Vita Art Award (1992). He created artwork based on traditional indigenous craft techniques.^[6]

Botha began lecturing at the Durban University of Technology in 1998. He founded the NGO Create Africa South Trust in 2002.^[7]

In 2006 Botha was invited to participate in the "Table of Free Voices" in Berlin. His creation "Dropping Knowledge" asked leaders in the fields of creative and scientific thinking to answer 100 questions put to them by the public simultaneously at a round table. That year he was commissioned for the Beaufort Triennale.

Botha founded the Amazwi Abesifazane Trust, registered in 2008, and the Human Elephant Foundation,^{[8] [9]} (registered 2009)

Botha has exhibited his drawings^[10] and sculptures in Brittany, the Canary Islands during 2008, South Korea during 2011 and locally in South Africa during 2010 and 2011.

Botha set up the Andries Botha Foundation (registered 2012). In 2012 he participated in "Planet under Pressure" in London where leaders in their fields discussed issues pertaining to sustainable development and the threats to the planet.

Botha has used his art to comment on the social and political challenges of his time. He also has created works on a variety of themes, including the co-existence of humans with other life forms, creativity, citizenship and lifelong learning.

In 2010 work on a sculpture that he was creating for the eThekwini Municipality was halted because the design was said to be too close to the logo of a political party. The sculpture was to be a group of elephants.^[11] After several years of negotiations, a somewhat altered design was agreed upon and Botha once more began work.^{[12] [13]} In the meantime, much of the framework which Both had installed had been stolen and sold for scrap metal.^[14] The sculptures were also damaged with red and black paint.^[15]

Publications

• Andries Botha, "US Wordfest Artist, 2010, 24 pp, colour illus, paperback, Stellenbosch, 2010
• Andries Botha, "Standard Bank Young Artist Award", 1991, 24 pages

Further reading

• Book: Carol Becker. Zones of Contention: Essays on Art, Institutions, Gender, and Anxiety. State University of New York Press. 978-0-7914-9612-1. 114–.
• Marlene Dumas, "Damenwahl 2 - Marlene Dumas and Andries Botha", Oktagon Verlagsgesellscaft Mbh, 1999
• Editors Jean Loup Pivin and Simon Njami. Portfolios Jackson Hlungwani, Andries Botha, Thomas Kgope, William Kentridge, Willie Bester and panorama of contemporary art in South Africa : art, photo, literature, dance, theatre, music, architecture, heritage, design, ritual art, talks, memory, news. "Revue Noire" Number 11, 1993Edition December 1993.
• Virginia MacKenny, "Artthrob", Issue No. 32, April 2000
• Bernadac (M-L.) et al. curators, "Africa Remix, l'art contemporain d'un continent", Paris, 2005
• Abdelwahab Meddeb, Lucy Duran, "Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent", Haywood Publishing, London, 2005

Notes and References

1. http://mg.co.za/article/2016-02-26-where-art-and-activism-merge "Where art and activism merge"
2. http://www.sculpture.org/documents/scmag98/botha/sm-botha.shtml "You Cannot Go Home to Another Place: An Interview with Andries Botha"
3. http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/ex-turtle-poacher-wins-top-environmental-prize-2013086 "Ex-turtle poacher wins top environmental prize"
4. Book: Sophie Perryer. 10 years 100 artists: art in a democratic South Africa. 2004. Bell-Roberts Pub. in association with Struik Publishers. 978-1-86872-987-6. 130.
5. Book: Printmaking: In a Transforming South Africa. 1997. D. Philip. 978-0-86486-334-8. 98–.
6. Book: James H. Olthuis. Towards an Ethics of Community: Negotiations of Difference in a Pluralist Society. 25 February 2000. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. 978-0-88920-339-6. 206–.
7. Book: Printmaking: In a Transforming South Africa. 1997. D. Philip. 978-0-86486-334-8. 98–.
8. http://www.inspirationgreen.com/driftwood-and-scrap-wood-sculptures.html "Driftwood and Scrap Wood Sculptures"
9. http://mg.co.za/article/2010-02-18-between-man-and-nature-the-elephants-path "Between man and nature: The elephant's path"
10. http://mg.co.za/article/2015-03-18-red-letter-day-for-the-true-of-heart "Julian Redpath: Red-letter day for the true of heart"
11. http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/durban-gets-its-jumbos---four-years-later-1762923 "Durban gets it’s [sic] jumbos - four years later"
12. http://mg.co.za/article/2013-02-01-andries-bothas-elephant-sculptures-to-be-completed-at-last "Andries Botha's elephant sculptures to be completed at last"
13. http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2015/05/25/ten-examples-of-public-funded-self-indulgence "Ten examples of public-funded self-indulgence"
14. http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/elephant-waiting-to-rise-again-1521637 "Elephant waiting to rise again"
15. Book: Steven C. Dubin. Spearheading Debate: Culture Wars & Uneasy Truces. 1 April 2013. Jacana Media. 978-1-4314-0737-8. 184–.