Arts and craft enthusiasts were in for a treat as Mogale City Local Municipality’s (MCLM) Heritage, Arts and Culture section hosted the 2022 Mogale City Art and Crafts Open Exhibition last week Friday.
The exhibition allowed more than 50 product owners from across the city to showcase as well as sell their artware to the public. The show was hosted along the busy and cordoned-off Commissioner Street.
According to the section, this one-day event is aimed at giving local artists and crafters an opportunity to promote and market their work to the community. The spectacle which is a drawcard for local arts and craft enthusiasts, also offers local artists and crafters a perfect opportunity to maintain client relations, to reach out to the wider audience and to network among themselves.
According to the section’s Assistant Manager Godfrey Naledzani, the creative industry is one of the sectors that have suffered the most due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
“Several cultural groups have collapsed due to lack of income during the hard lockdown period of the pandemic. Hosting a program such as Art and Crafts Show was critical in restoring the heartbeat of the sector as artists and crafters had an opportunity to make some sales on the day” said Naledzani.
Naledzani added that the event was also aimed at bringing some economic benefits to local artists and crafters as they can make sales and take orders during the event. He said in this way artists and crafters are also encouraged to consider art as a career and produce quality art and craftwork that can be sold both locally and internationally.
The section, under the tutelage of the Community Development Services department, said in the next five years, would like to see this event growing to be one of the well-known open art and crafts shows in Gauteng and the entire country.
“We would like to see the show having its own permanent home within the Municipality wherein artists and crafters would bring their art and crafts work to be sold daily,” said the section.