Mall of Africa and Julie Miller Investment Art Institute smash distance barriers in the name of Art

How do you top what is already known as the largest showcase of African art in the world? The Mall of Africa and retail tenant Julie Miller Investment Art Institute thinks that technology holds the key.

Over the past year, the Mall of Africa has cemented itself as the hub of contemporary art in Gauteng, through a successful partnership with the Julie Miller Investment Art Institute.

From the outset, the main goals of the ‘Africa’s Art Collective Seasons’ exhibitions, were to provide an opportunity to showcase a world class art collection in a retail space to engage the public and foster support for the arts. This March it is back with even more talent to showcase between 14^th to 31^st  March 2019.

With more than 500 pieces of artwork by 130 artists from across the African continent, this is the largest exhibition of its kind.

Now, in an unprecedented move, the collection will be accessible to even more art lovers through the use of virtual reality.

“We’ve learnt that distance can be a big barrier for lovers of African art – often these prospective buyers are in other countries and are unable to physically go to the mall to view the exhibition. We don’t think our artists should lose out on an opportunity to showcase their work to foreign markets, and so we’ve come up with a technology-driven solution to make that possible” says Julie Miller.

The exhibition will be filmed using a 360 degree camera, which in turn will be turned in to a 3D virtual tour of the collection which can be viewed by anyone, anywhere by simply going to the Julie Miller Investment Art International website – www.juliemiller.gallery/africa-art-collective-moa.

Art lovers the world over will be able to view and find information about the art pieces as well as the artists as they virtually experience the collection. An online catalogue will also feature more information about the works on display.

“We’ve managed to expose an entirely new audience to African art by using our retail space, and of course we ideally want the public to come to the mall to experience the artwork first hand, but we cannot ignore the reach that technology gives us in finding new and younger audiences” says Johann Fourie, GM for Mall of Africa.

Discover the all new Art Collection Season at the Mall of Africa between 14th March and 31st March, or experience the exhibition virtually by going to www.juliemiller.gallery/africa-art-collective-moa