Walking into a secret venue near the Silo District we were introduced to an orangutan, a polar bear, a sloth, a blue whale, and a great white shark, all endangered species.
Artist Porky Hefer tells us to story of how this exhibition commissioned by SFA Advisory to benefit the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) came to fruition.
LDF supports projects around the world that build climate resiliency, protect vulnerable wildlife from extinction, and restore balance to threatened ecosystems and communities.
To date, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has provided grants of more than $80 million USD to support crucial environmental work in over 60 countries.
Titled Endangered, the pods were produced using environmentally sustainable materials that have been extensively hand-worked by artisans in Cape Town.
Hefer worked closely with textile artist Ronel Jordaan and craft collectives Heart Works and Mielie to translate his creatures into giant, tactile sculptures whose surfaces have been crocheted, felted, stitched and embroidered with unique embellishments.
“We are incredibly excited to partner with Porky on this exciting project, and we appreciate his creativity and commitment to helping us find new ways to engage the public on issues impacting wildlife,”
said Terry Tamminen, CEO of Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.
“This exhibition will raise awareness about the importance of protecting endangered species around the world. Understanding our impact on the environment is a pressing issue, and we hope this exhibition and others like it will encourage people everywhere to consider making small changes toward a sustainable environment.”
The works will be available for sale in a limited edition of three per animal through Southern Guild gallery, with 25% of the sales proceeds supporting Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation’s wildlife conservation programs.
“Visitors to Design Miami/Basel will be invited to sit in, on, and around these friendly sculptural creatures igniting a sense of empathy as the stories of the real animals’ hardships and the importance of their survival to our own lives is recounted through interaction, video, and text,”
says Lisa Schiff, Founder and Principal of SFA Advisory.
“It’s the future of the next generation that I am concerned about and the state of the world they inherit. Looking after our animals and Earth is one thing but also the preservation of human skills, crafts and traditions,”
“I think it’s important to show what beauty humans are capable of with their hands rather than the destructive mass production that technology is driving the modern consumerist society towards.”
says Hefer.
Due to the world wide embargo and Nature of this post the copy and images were supplied
Images Courtesy of Southern Guild & SFA Advisory. Photo by Antonia Steyn.
