The South African National Association for the Visual Arts

(SANAVA)   http://www.sanava.co.za/

SANAVA is the oldest, constitutionally established, most representative, national non-governmental association for the promotion of the visual arts in South Africa, its origin dating back to 1851 when the Cape Fine Arts Society (CFAS) was established.   

Over the years, the Society has grown to become a national body of artists and lovers of the visual arts. The organisation proved its resilience despite several war-time situations and challenges of an economic, financial, social and political nature. Several name changes were due to follow: in 1871 it became the South African Fine Arts Association (SAFAA), in 1945 the South African Association of Arts (SAAA), and in 1998 the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA).  Despite the name changes, the Association basically retained the same objectives as reflected in the original Constitution, that of promoting the visual arts in its widest context. One of SANAVA’s major objectives concerning the development of artists relates to the administration of three fully equipped artists’ studios, in the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France. These were acquired during the early 1990s in terms of an occupational rights agreement, valid till 2060.

SANAVA is an overall administrative body, serving autonomous branches and affiliated organisations (art galleries, museums, educational institutions and corporate bodies providing for the promotion of the visual arts) country-wide.   Presently, the Association comprises 26 branches and 19 affiliated organisations, including two academic institutions in Mozambique (the National School of Visual Arts of Mozambique and the Portuguese School of Mozambique, both in Maputo). Its Constitution does not allow for individual artists directly to become members of the national association.   They have to be members of a branch that is a member of the national body.

SANAVA is registered with the Department of Social Development as a Non-profit Organisation as well as with the South African Revenue Service as a Public Benefit Organisation. Although the SAAA (earlier name of SANAVA) had been a founding member of the International Association of Art (IAA) in 1954, it became a dormant member in later years.   On 24 September 2005, at the 16th General Assembly of the IAA held in China, SANAVA was readmitted as a member of that non-governmental world body, closely associated with UNESCO.

What is a Monotype?

A monotype is a one of a kind, hand-pulled print. An artist creates an image with paint or ink on a smooth plate (usually plexiglass or metal), and transfers the art to paper with contact and pressure between the plate and the paper. The pressure of printing creates a texture not possible when painting directly on paper. After the paper is squeezed against the still-wet image on the plate, it’s literally peeled off the plate by the artist, and this stage of printing is called “pulling”, since we are pulling the print off the plate.

The images are created with ink, paint, water-soluble crayons, or any medium that will leave the plate and stick to the paper when they’re pressed together. There are no permanent lines or etch marks on the plate, so the image is created solely by the artists’ manipulation of the medium.

Monotypes are unique, because only one impression of the art can be pulled from the plate before the ink is gone. (Some people refer to monotypes as the only original art printed in an edition of one.) After the initial print is pulled, there may be just enough pigment left on the plate to pull a second, faint impression, called a ghost. The ghost (or cognate), is a much lighter reprint, with substantial variations from the first print, and is more of a transparent suggestion of the first image. A ghost print can be treated as an “under-painting”, giving the artist creative license to re-work the image with more ink or paint, and alter the ghost print to create an entirely new, one of a kind work of art.