TATE MODERN OF AFRICA

Dear Geoffrey .Jane and all at the city of cape town .
Please see below the letter that the Cape times ran in October , Re. our meeting this morning .I was most inspired by the very supportive position expressed by the representatives of the city of Cape Town in the imitative to establish "the Tate modern 'of Africa in the cities Turbine hall on the N2 highway into Cape Town [.Next to the recently demolished cooling towers.]
My main concern was that if the private sector and Gov. are to work together in achieving this that there would have to be tax incentives offered to the private sector. Geoffrey Mamputa pointed out that this is the practice in the sport sector and therefore should be able to come about within the cultural sector.
My role would be to bring the support of the private sector to the table , while the city would work with national gov. departments of sport arts and culture , tourism, education and finance. The sectors most able to benefit apart from the general public would be tourism and education .
Please let me know what your position is in this regard and how you might be able to help in making this dream come true.
best Beezy.


Published cape times letters october 2010:
Taking Rob Gaylands letter further I would like to suggest the following . One of the biggest success stories in the economic boom of the 90s in England was the establishment of the Tate modern.
like the presently vacant turbine hall [ a great name for an art gallery] the Tate modern also started life as a power station .instead of demolishing it and building more malls , it was ,with the support of government and business made into a spectacular art gallery . The financial impact of witch on the city of London should be studied by the city of cape town .And seriously considered. In terms of potential massive tourist revenue it could put our stadium to shame. Africa is the cradle of modern art yet we have this nationalistic inferiority complex when it comes to matters cultural."African cultural centre" conjures up images of N.G.O s and craft markets, third world mediocrity, lets for a moment drop all this and get into 2010 world cup mode. Were we built a beautiful [expensive yes] stadium and blew the minds of millions around the globe with our our friendliness ,efficiency and magic, shattering the idea of so many of as us being an African basket case. Possibly setting the stage were billons are currently flowing into our stock exchange, making our Rand one of the strongest currentcies in the world.
The power of art to educate and enlighten is lost on South African sports fields, but while we produce top sportsmen we also have produced the highest earning woman artist in history [Marlene Dumas from the Boland] now in Holland who claim her as theirs , as artists we have to export our self's and/or our work due to the lack of support from home.
So I say lets make this happen , lets have an African equivalent of the Tate Modern with not only with Benin Bronzes , Zulu beadwork, Ethiopian paintings, and Venda woodcarvings , but also the Picassos and Braque's that they inspired, along with what us contempory artists are showing all over the world except in South Africa, Lets educate our youth about the endless power of creativity that will ultimately bring revenue in to build houses and uplift not only the poor, also Africa in the world.
Beezy Bailey Cape Town x

Dancing Jesus painting and poem

A few years ago, when visiting the vast Sandton City shopping centre in Johannesberg, I had an idea for an art performance. I would make friends with everybody who entered the shopping centre. I would be filmed approaching people, smiling at them, trying to make friends in a very short time and exchange phone numbers (this being before the Internet). A somewhat bizarre idea, given that one wouldn't be able to establish very intimate friendships, but nonetheless demonstrating my desire to know everybody and everybody to know me. The inter web, with its Facebook, Blogging and Twitter comes as close to this performance as is humanly possible.

I have decided to share some recent paintings and the poems that I wrote to illustrate the images after painting them.

Herewith..."Play us a song, you're the Piano man" October 2010

Dry out tears Piano man,
the silent blonde grass and thorn trees.
The sleeping shepard rose from its endless sands.
Lulu in purple dancing in the doorway.
Come inside and dance the dance of the
light in the desert.
Play us a song, Piano man, that we will
always hear in the quiet place of the endless sky.

WWW

It is with some trepidation that i dip my toe into this vast place of the interweb. It reminds me of the farm I grew up on when I was 2 and looking into the night sky stuffed with stars ,I demanded that my dad get a ladder and get me a star and crying my eyes out when this could not be , I was finaly placated by a Christmas tree star , It seems the WWW is a night sky and all the people are stars and I want to touch them all .And have several to keep.

Dancing Jesus Infecting the City

It all started with the Infecting City festival invading Cape Town, turning it into a creative, stimulating space that celebrated the Cape's trove of treasures.

first blog ever. 25 oct. 2010

Hi Everyone. At last I've arrived in blogosphere! herewith my lastest project , The Dancing Jesus. If you remove the cross from behind Jesus , he looks as if he is dancing. Comprising my recent performance in Copenhagen [ to follow] , sculptures , paintings and drawings. While working on the theme I came about the realisation that when Christ returns to our world, when the Messiah comes, He wont be a rock star Mandela like individual, it will rather be a worldwide universal awareness within each one of us, of the God within each of us, of our unlimited potential of an eventual heaven on earth. On left , my 15cm high dancing Jesus [Hava Nagila] cast in pure 18ct gold . ed. 12. Best to you Beezy. Cape Town