Map - Modern Art Project

About Map - Modern Art Project

The modern art project, more commonly known as Map, was founded by Harrie Siertsema, a patron of the arts, and Abrie Fourie, a well known artist and curator, in 2005.

The impetus behind the project is not only to show the works of both established and emerging contemporary artists but to do so outside of the traditional gallery setting, in wholly unexpected spaces, like restaurants, hotels, homes and Map's home in Richmond in the Upper Karoo.

The founders describe the movement as symbolic of the new 'empathetic economy' and the disintegration of 'high' and 'low' culture by making art more accessible.

They follow the current trend of international art movements that take art from the gallery so that it can be accessed more democratically, after which it returns to the 'white cube' of the gallery for documentation (in this case in the form of a series of little 'black books' available to all) and integration.

These modern art projects are described as a series of 'site-specific art events, collaborations and exhibitions' – site specific in the sense that the venue inspires the work. Much of the work is done in the 'spirit of experiment and adventure'.

The works they install or exhibit in these unusual venues evoke a deliberate 'conversation' that tries to 'bring art to the table' and to change what is usually a place of 'normal' activity into a 'space of surprising encounters with images and object'.

You will find Map exhibitions in Hout Bay, Dullstroom, Pretoria and Graskop - all at Harrie's Pancakes - and in Cullinan at 112 Oak Avenue. Further exhibitions are consistently at the Graskop Hotel, and at Map's gallery and artists' retreat in Richmond, on the corner of Loop and Plein Streets.