Nirox Sculpture Park: Where art meets nature

Some of them rise like mysterious figures from the lush lawns. Some are shapes suspended in bodies of water.

Nirox Foundation Sculpture Park in Krugersdorp feels like a dream. One with vivid greens and tangerine hues in autumn and winter.

Is this the best place to take selfies with perfect natural light in Johannesburg? Probably.

Open only on weekends and public holidays, the park deserves its new notoriety as the perfect day away.

Sitting on 20 hectares of gardens and waterways in the Cradle of Humankind, contemporary art is the highlight here – and it creates an incredible balance between nature and granite, man-made and natural. But behind the scenes beats an important cultural exchange.

The Nirox Foundation also sponsors artist residencies at the park, where artists from across the world and South Africa can enjoy accommodation and studio facilities.

These artists serve no imperative but are encouraged to exchange their thoughts with local artists and other figures – and at the end of their residency, leave their artwork for the foundation’s collection.

In the age of social media, think of the value international artists have in promoting this unique patch of earth, where figures and shapes rise from the ground so perfectly. It’s also become known for boutique events that merge performance with all the disciplines on full display in the park.

The American Express Winter Sculpture Fair saw a crowd of 5 000 visitors descending upon Nirox Foundation Sculpture Park over Mother’s Day weekend.

The seventh edition of the winter sculpture fair saw American Express continue its collaboration with Artlogic to create an art-infused escape from city life – just one of the events that drew more than 5 000 attendees.

On top of that, 22 wineries and 13 restaurants from the Franschhoek Valley have also “sprouted from the earth”.

This year the centrepiece of the fair was the exhibition titled Power of Site, which was curated in collaboration with Lorena Guillen Vaschetti of Argentina and Adam Jeppesen from Denmark.

Last weekend, Nirox again celebrated nature, thanks to the Casa Corona lifestyle experience in celebration of the 2019 winter solstice and magical highveld sunsets.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.