Phansi Museum launches 2018 calendar

ONE of the most admired contributions the Bartel Arts Trust and the Phansi Museum have made to the enrichment of the cultural life in KwaZulu Natal is the annual Art • Craft • Tradition calendar.

This annual publication, now in its 23 year of production will be officially launched on Saturday, 18 November at the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), 719 Umbilo Road, Durban, at noon.

The 2018 Phansi Museum calendar takes a close-up look at the mosaic installations on the walls and interior of the seven-story K-RITH Tower Building on the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine Campus in Umbilo, Durban.

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It is this focus on health and the quest for cures that informed acclaimed ceramic and mosaic artist Jane du Rand’s murals. Briefed by the building’s architects in 2010 to reflect the work that happens in the building, Jane took inspiration from symbols of healing from different cultures, and looked at the structure and shape of viruses, blood cells and bacteria. Indigenous plants with medicinal and healing properties, as well as plant fractals (patterns), also form an important part of this installation.

The artwork is split across different areas of the building. Despite being separate, each part of the artwork has been carefully designed to have a relationship and visual connection with the other through repetitive circular shapes and interconnected patterns.

Each year Phansi Museum distributes thousands of calendars to schools in cities, villages and in faraway rural areas, clinics, libraries, community centers and educational institutions across the province. This publication is awaited with much anticipation by many, both in South Africa and abroad, in rural areas.

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The 2018 Art • Craft • Tradition calendar once again pays respect to and celebrates those who have created, observed, recorded and collected the treasures the Phansi Museum continues to share with the rest of the world.

To coincide with the launch of the calendar, Phansi Museum in collaboration with AHRI, will launch the AHRI/Phansi Schools Essay Competition. Science, like art is about discovery. Being a scientist at AHRI means constantly learning new things about our world, our society and about disease. For the 2018 Phansi Calendar Schools Essay Competition, Phansi is offering prizes to support study in a medical or science-related field. There will also be book prizes and a work-experience opportunity at AHRI.

The calendars for 2018 in poster and desktop format are available from the Phansi Museum and other retail outlets.

Contact the Museum on 031-206 2889 or admin@phansi.com.

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