Heritage Cases

2023 is the 75th anniversary of the inception of CoBrA, an important European post-war art movement, and the CoBrA Museum is planning an anniversary programme with three side-by-side exhibitions to kick off the celebrations, one of which is on Ernest Methuen Mancoba and Sonja Ferlov Mancoba. In-Focus: Ernest Mancoba & Sonja Ferlov Mancoba will be one of three side-by-side exhibitions and will provide an overview of the artists’ practices, with a focus on their time in Denmark, for the five years were propitious for their artistic development. The CoBrA Museum of Modern Art has requested the loan of 4 of the Johannesburg Art Gallery’s Ernest Mancoba’s works for an exhibition entitled ‘In-Focus: Ernest Mancoba & Sonja Ferlov Mancoba’ which opens on 26 January 2023 and closes on 14 May 2023. 2023 is the 75th anniversary of the inception of CoBrA, an important European post-war art movement, and the CoBrA Museum is planning an anniversary programme with three side-by-side exhibitions to kick off the celebrations, one of which is on Ernest Methuen Mancoba and Sonja Ferlov Mancoba. Ernest Metheun Mancoba (1904-2002) left South Africa on a government study grant and settled in Paris just before the outbreak of the Second World War. He met Sonja Ferlov (1911-1984) and they became close artistically and romantically. They married in 1942 and after the War ended, they left Paris for Denmark, where they reconnected with their Danish artist friends and exhibited with the Danish avant-garde art association Host and met and befriended the Dutch and Belgian members of CoBrA. Ernest Methuen Mancoba and his Danish artist wife Sonja Ferlov Mancoba were both insiders and outsiders of CoBrA and the Danish avant-garde which formed the backbone to the movement. After five years they returned to France, where they lived out the rest of their lives with their son. In-Focus: Ernest Mancoba & Sonja Ferlov Mancoba will be one of three side-by-side exhibitions and will provide an overview of the artists’ practices, with a focus on their time in Denmark, for the five years were propitious for their artistic development. For Mancoba, visits to Nordic ruins and Medieval churches not only fed his interest in the arts and cultures of other peoples it inspired a new artistic turn. His Danish sculptures were also to be his last, thereafter he focused on painting and drawing – and later on, printmaking. Exhibiting Mancoba’s and Ferlov’s works together, we can see how they influenced one another – a topic only touched upon in recent solo retrospectives at the Centre Pompidou (Paris) and Statens Museum for Kunst (Copenhagen). Side-by-side with In-Focus: Ernest Mancoba & Sonja Ferlov Mancoba will be an exhibition on Danish modern art, 1934-1948, the period just before the inception of the CoBrA art movement. The two exhibitions highlight how Ferlov and Mancoba seemed to respond to ideas circulating amongst the Danes but also to their own artistic concerns. Both Mancoba and Ferlov have been underrepresented in Dutch (solo) exhibitions and public collections to date, and In-Focus: Ernest Mancoba & Sonja Ferlov Mancoba aims to bring these important Modern artists to wider attention in the Netherlands. There will be an exhibition catalogue with an essay(s) on Ernest Mancoba and Sonja Ferlov Mancoba. The CoBrA Museum of Modern Art is requesting the loan of 4 important work by Ernest Metheun Mancoba, in the JAG collection, namely JAG1994-7-13 'Bantu Madonna' (sometimes referred to as 'African Madonna'), yellowwood sculpture JAG1996-11-3, 'Double Unity' (La Double Unite or sometimes La Double Verite), olivewood sculpture JAG1996-11-5, 'Untitled, 1959', oil on canvas JAG1994-7-1, 'L'Ancetre' (The Ancestor), oil on canvas In an effort to foster relationships with accredited institutions both nationally and internationally, the Directorate: Arts Culture & Heritage under Community Development for the City of Johannesburg has entered into agreements for inter-museum and gallery loans. In keeping with International Museum Standards, the City of Johannesburg will not be charged a fee for the loan. The lender will also cover all costs relating to the courier who will accompany the 4 works to the Netherlands, and will oversee the installation and condition reporting. There will also be a courier for the return of the works in May 2023, who will oversee conditioning and crating. In order to further the access to the JAG collection, it is important that the museum assist other institutions with loans as a means to promote a culture of arts appreciation and improve the service delivery of cultural activities to the public beyond its own municipal museums. Loans such as these also provide skills training opportunities for JAG staff, as well as the means to develop an holistic appreciation of the role of a museum such as JAG, in the international arena. The promotion of cultural assets in this manner is in keeping with the reputation and mandate of the Gallery and the City. Establishing good relations with local and international museums is part of the Gallery’s mandate and ensures the potential for future collaboration and assistance. A policy related to museum loans was approved and adopted in 2020, and as such this loan must adhere to the guidelines therein. An appropriate loan agreement will be entered into with the organizer who will also indemnify the Council against any loss or damage and subject to any such further conditions as the Group Legal and Contracts considers necessary to protect the interests of the City. JAG and City of Johannesburg will be credited for ownership of the artwork in the exhibition. The exhibition will be publicized in Dutch media via newspaper articles, social media and direct contact with schools. The City of Johannesburg would be able to highlight the loan on social media and content for COJ publications. As per the loan contract copies of publications will be given to JAG and SAHRA for their archives and libraries.