Cape Town - The preview for an auction to raise money for the Tutu Legacy Fund will be held on Saturday at the Old Granary building.
The Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation’s chief executive Piyushi Kotecha has said art and wine lovers, and people with an eye on gathering once-in-a-lifetime experiences can start bidding on a catalogue of items and experiences that will go under the hammer.
A new limited-edition print by renowned artist William Kentridge and a stay at a five-star villa near Hermanus are among the variety of works of art and experiences that will be under the hammer.
Jacques Lagrange, the King of Couture, and Aimee Lentz, a brand manager for Jewelvest, spent Thursday, dressing singer, actress and inspirational speaker Zolani Mahola at the Sky Hotel in preparation for the weekend.
Lagrange, who has been a designer for 30 years, said he joined the auction because he wanted to give back and help a community in need.
The live, virtual auction, set to take place next Wednesday, is part of the Foundation’s 90@90 campaign, which began in 2020, aiming to raise R90m over two years for the Tutu Legacy Fund in Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s 90th year, ending on October 7 next year.
Kotecha said funds raised from the Art for the Arch auction would go towards an exciting new long-term exhibition celebrating the work of Archbishop Tutu, titled Truth to Power, curated in collaboration with the Apartheid Museum, which would open in October.
That exhibition forms part of the wider 90@90 campaign.
“Archbishop Tutu’s principled and courageous leadership gave South Africans hope and courage during apartheid, and it gives us hope and courage today. His example is sorely needed at this complex time in human history,” said Kotecha.
Frank Kilbourn, executive chairperson for the Strauss & Co auctioneer that will conduct the hybrid auction live, said it was wonderful to be able to offer such a wide variety of lots in the exceptional auction.
Some of the work that would go under the hammer include that of a Cape Town-based artist Barry Jackson’s bronze Dancing Tutu sculpture along with Esther Mahlangu’s Ndebele Abstract.
Jackson is regularly commissioned to produce full-figure sculptures of historical figures and has produced sculptures of Nelson Mandela, Ahmed Kathrada, Oliver Tambo and Louis van Mauritius, a slave in the former Cape Colony who led a rebellion in 1808.