in association with
ELISA IANNACONE
ALL THE CAKES IN THE WORLD
Hahnemule Photo Rag Baryta on diasec
Edition of 5 (1200 x 800mm)
Edition of 10 (600 x 420mm)
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AFRICA CONTEMPORARY ART & JUST ART INTERNATIONAL
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Africa Contemporary Art is a niche visual arts agency, based out of South Africa, working with a select stable of multi-media artists, with a primary focus on human rights - and, consequently contemporary identities, and geographies (Africa, the global South, and the creative intersection with the traditions of the global North). Social justice is an overriding concern (serious, ironic but also fantastical and whimsical in expression).
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Just Art International, our non-profit entity, focuses exclusively on the intersection of art and impact, social justice, and human rights, and has developed a reputation for implementing large-scale, multi-disciplinary art projects with at-risk communities in (South) Africa, - with the expressed intention of leaving behind a legacy of sustainable community interventions.
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Key projects include
NYAMBO MASA MARA 2022
THE SPIRAL OF CONTAINMENT: in collaboration with photographer Elisa Iannacone - 2022 TO 2023
DREAMSCAPES - in collaboration with Elisa Iannacone 2023
COME LET'S PLAY - THIS IS ME: in collaboration with our sister company impact4good and the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital - 2023 ongoing (2025)
ELISA IANNACONE
THE GREAT ESCAPE
NMCH series: Come, Let's Play (Toolong re Bapaleng)
Hahnemule Photo Rag Baryta on diasec
Edition of 5 (1200 x 800mm)
Edition of 10 (600 x 420mm)
​
ELISA IANNACONE
NMCH series: Come, Let's Play (Toolong re Bapaleng)
Hahnemule Photo Rag Baryta on diasec
Edition of 5 (1200 x 800mm)
Edition of 10 (600 x 420mm)
​
DREAM SCAPES:
BY ELISA IANNACONE (REFRAME HOUSE),
A SUITE OF 5 WORKS OF CHRONICALLY ILL CHILDREN
COMPLETED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL AND
THE NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S FUND
THE PROJECT DEBUTED AT THE AFRICA CONTEMPORARY ART STAND
DURING THE TURBINE ART FAIR 21-24 JULY 2022
Nelson Mandela had a dream: A hospital for the children of South Africa. In June 2016, two and a half years after his death, the NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL (NMCH) opened its doors to its first patients. A truly uplifting and joy-filled institution (architectonically and clinically) NMCH continues to dispense extraordinary life-saving health-care, happiness, and joy to its visitors, every day.
To celebrate the five year anniversary of the NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, AFRICA CONTEMPORARY ART collaborated with the team at NMCH and the NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN’S FUND to create five photographic portraits of five young patients - four renal dialysis patients who spend four days per week at their "home-from-home", and one cardiac patient. The project was titled: ' Come Let's Play! (Tloong Re Bapaleng!)'.
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Photographer, Elisa Iannacone met with each child, and talked - and played - with them to
tease out their hopes, dreams and desires into a realisable dreams-cape. Iannacone transformed the hospital beds and wards into fantasy-scapes - from balloon flights; to carnivals; a world of cakes; a car racing through space; or a dance in a fashion heaven. The resulting portraits at play are filled with hope, joy, whimsy and delight – for both the children (and families), and the viewer. Each work is a testimony to the care that encompasses the NMCH professional ethos.
We are privileged to have been able to work with the dedicated team on our project which debuted at TAF2022, and continues - and expands - over the next three years on- and off-line.
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Works of the limited edition suite are still available for purchasing. Contact us directly.
Portions of proceeds of purchases from
AFRICA CONTEMPORARY ART
of this limited edition of works go to the
NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
to commemorate their 5-year anniversary in July 2022.
And is continuing in association with the
NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S FUND for their
30 year anniversary.
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SALES OF WORKS DIRECTLY BENEFIT YOUNG CHRONICALLY ILL CHILDREN. LARGER DONATIONS DIRECTLY TO THE FUND WILL GO TO EXTENDING THE HOSPITAL TO INCLUDE A PAEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY SERVICE.
"Each of us, as citizens, has a role to play in creating a better world for our children."
Nelson Mandela at luncheon hosted by Kofi Anan: Special UN Session for Children, 2002.
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THE SPIRAL OF CONTAINMENT: ELISA IANNACONE (2022-2023)
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THE SPIRAL OF CONTAINMENT: RAPE'S AFTERMATH, (SPIRAL), by Mexican-Canadian photographer, cinematographer and foreign correspondent, Elisa Iannacone, was brought to South Africa by ACA/Just Art International, with select works exhibited at The Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Nirox Sculpture Park and, as the full 24-work exhibition with audio, for over a year at Constitution Hill Isolation Cells in Johannesburg. A multi-media experiential exhibition consists of 24 photographs, soundscapes and installations, and one hologram in the first installation in London, each of which features a single rape survivor, in magical-realist portrait. The works were created by the photographer in collaboration with each subject, reconstructing and reframing the original traumatic experience into one of empowerment, agency, and revitalised identity. ​
The Kingdom, shot at Johannesburg's iconic Ponte Towers, was donated to the Constitutional Court Collection by ACA and the artist. The original AP print is in a significant private collection. This work below, Staying Afloat was recreated as an outdoor sculptural installation for NIROXARTS.
ELISA IANNACONE
STAYING AFLOAT:
THE SPIRAL OF CONTAINMENT
NIROXARTS