February 28, 2007
Undiscovered local website of the week: Pallecan Arts
I spent this last weekend with my friends Jo and Andrew in Ladybrand and since he’s the local Methodist pastor, he (and therefore the rest of us) were invited to a local farm lunch in Excelsior (population under 200). Ye gads! What food! And compulsory brandy-and-cokes! In amongst this I met a fascinating lady by the name of Rina who runs the Pallecan Arts centre in Excelsior. She was a good friend of the late Father Frans Claerhout, a Catholic priest and world-renowned Flemish artist.
Besides using bright colours, Claerhout was also known for sketching peculiar donkeys. And there was a very specific reason why he painted these animals. Claerhout said: “I am expressionisties. If you paint a horse, you cannot make it funny or long tail or ear, maar a donkey…you can make it long ear, you can make them blue or yellow. It’s like a boerebok, you can give him a long beard and its tail up…but everyone wants a donkey. Maybe I’m a kind of donkey.”
Rina teaches locals at the art centre, who then make artworks which are sold – a fine coming together of creativity and business sense. She was also very interested in the interactive visual arts lecture I attended a few weeks back at The Bag Factory in Newtown. So visit the Pallecan website for a bit of Free State soul!
Technorati Tags: art, Claerhout, Free State
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