Tatham Art Gallery

Ceramics from the Ardmore Studio, which is situated in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, are collected all over the world. It all began when Fee Halsted-Berning, a painter and ceramist who qualified at UKZN, trained a young disabled Zulu woman, Bonnie Ntshalintshali, to work with her. Bonnie showed exceptional talent and the two together won the acclaimed Standard Bank Young Artist award in 1990. Sadly, Bonnie died in 1999. Since then, her story has inspired many other artists. With more than eighty crafters who produce works that demonstrate a vibrant fusion of Western and African elements, Ardmore is now one of the largest ceramic studios in South Africa.

Ardmore pieces are usually the result of combined efforts. Some works are hand-built and then painted, but many others are built up with decorations by artists from basic shapes thrown on the wheel by regular potters. After the work has been bisque fired, the painters choose pieces to paint. Eventually the works are glazed and fired by artists selected for these tasks.

Unfortunately HIV/AIDS has had a devastating effect on this community and the exhibition is a collection of works relating to the pandemic. Some of the works by deceased artists are included because they were made before their deaths. Some were made as tributes to friends who died, and others were made to warn against the disease.

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