Creative love-fueled collaboration dances at the core of Soekfontein’s communal initiative. A continuously growing space for artists to connect with each other face-to-face in a pressure-less atmosphere that benefits everybody involved.

Soekfontein truly is something special, cared for by two of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet, should you be so lucky. Hanrié Viljoen and Salmay Hindle have taken it upon themselves and their team of like-minded friends to build a bridge for artists to find each other and express themselves to a warm community of excitedly curious peers. This idea is expressed by them in a variety of different ways – but the most recent example happened earlier this month at their second Soekfontein Gathering “Vertel Me About It“.

A tangible space for food, drinks, music, pens, paper and people to come together and learn about one another, as well as learn about each other’s creative process, all being materialised through a show-and-tell format.

It was an extremely refreshing atmosphere to be in and you could sense that everyone else felt the same way. There was an ease at which people floated into the venue and immediately picked up a pen and started interacting with their environment. I think this is partly helped on by the underlying and unspoken sense of acceptance that ties everyone together in a neat bow.

There were areas laid out around on various colourful rugs, signifying spots where you could sit down and collage or draw with one another, something that immediately creates a sense of collaboration between strangers and allows people to naturally spark interaction between themselves.

This interaction was the source of Soekfontein’s naturally flowing reservoir, and it carved its way through the venue with ease. Creating interactive visual representation for the values and priorities of the collective itself, allowing anyone entering the space to immediately have an understanding of what lies at the heart of Soekfontein. 

These values being so clear, really helps attract people who can find comfort in the space just knowing that everyone around them (whether they speak to them or not) has something in common with the way they value creativity. But the show and tell aspect of the evening was really the highlight for me.

An under-utilised format for showcasing artwork by having a handful of participating artists place themselves behind a microphone one at a time, while everyone else sits respectfully and listens to them talk about the artwork they had brought along and placed beside themselves.

Following on, the audience proceeded to ask thoughtful questions that gave everyone else more insight into the work, while creating a sort of catharsis for the artist who had just expressed their internal thoughts and feelings so openly.

It was a beautiful way to flip our modern-day approach in which we hurriedly scroll past work we’d generally see on social media. In its overabundance, it loses itself as a commodity in a digital sense. Artwork isn’t sought after in the same way it used to be and we forget that there are real people behind these pixels that are using the platform in a multitude of different ways, freely showcasing aspects of themselves.

Hearing people speak so introspectively about a single piece of their work reminds you of what’s at the heart of creative expression, with its ability to capture and release. Personally, when I post artwork on social media I love to occasionally over-explain my process or what I was feeling when making whatever it may be. Even if the conversation is one-sided, it at least contains honest ideas providing some kind of context. I don’t think there’s always a need to be precious about the words that go along with your art, and this show-and-tell format reminds me of that exact idea.

It’s the lack of conversation that comes along with our current method for showing our work that might really be generating an underlying feeling of lifelessness and loneliness, if you are to show anyone your artwork in your day to day life, it would almost always press someone to at least say something about it – but it’s way too easy to hide behind a single heart symbol representing the extent of your reaction to something.

It’s not to say that we need to write a paragraph under every piece of work we see online, but sharing your words or just some kind of affirmation can go a long way for somebody feeling unseen in an endless sea of conflicting attention.

So I would be extremely eager to experience another Soekfontein show and tell style event. It’s a great way to engage with art and people without all the digitised distance. Social media’s one benefit is definitely interconnectivity, but Soekfontein reminds us that it’s just a weak imitation for what we’re able to create around us. I would urge every artist who’s interested to stay up to date with these lovely people and the important work that they’re doing. We need to support community initiative and maybe even more so in a creative sense, this is what keeps our connection to each other healthy and in tune.