One of the donated William Kentridge works in the first project's first collection.
One of the donated William Kentridge works in the first project's first collection.
What was intended to be a 21-day art fundraiser in 2020 will finally finish at the end of this month.
The Lockdown Collection (TLC) is the brainchild of Whanganui businessman Carl Bates, who spent a decade travelling between New Zealand and Africa before the pandemic hit.
His initial idea came when South Africa entered its first lockdown.
It involved curating and auctioning art pieces from established artists in that country, with proceeds shared between the collection’s Vulnerable Artist Fund (VAF) and the President’s Solidarity Fund, which supported South Africa’s national health response to Covid-19.
“It was only meant to be a three-week thing but I suppose, in many ways, Covid was only meant to be a three-week thing for so many as well,” Bates said.
“Now, I think we’ve achieved our mission of capturing a moment in history.”
That initial moment involved a small, scaly mammal that at the time was suspected to be a possible source of Covid-19.
“During that 21 days, two pieces of the art represented the global story at the time - that the pangolin was to blame,” Bates said.
Carl and Candice Bates.
The first auction was followed by the Extension Collection and the Open Call Collection.
Three student collections then raised money for participating artists and commemorative print collections were sold to add funds to the VAF.
That fund has now given out 636 grants and 128 bursaries to artists in South Africa and will remain open and active after the project comes to an end.“I think it puts the cost of living in New Zealand into a little bit of context, and how much it’s risen,” Bates said.
“The grants were around NZ$350 and that would provide for an artist for about a month.
“Bursaries were a bit more because they paid for costs related to a year of study. They were around NZ$1200.”
Artists who receive grants must, where possible, send in an artwork to be sold by TLC, creating a circle of reciprocity and assisting to replenish the fund.
Bates said he only met the other two founders of the project - marketing expert Lauren Woolf and visual arts professor Kim Berman - in person in July.
“It’s just one of those really crazy journeys,” he said.
“Everything has a season though, and the season for The Lockdown Collection is coming to an end.
“I’m still by no means an expert when it comes to art, but I’m definitely someone who has more of an appreciation of it now.”
The project was a finalist for three awards at last year’s Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) Awards, winning the First-Time Sponsor Award and the SMMA Award (for vital support given to the arts by a micro, small or medium enterprise).
This year Bates sold Sirdar, the board governance business he started out of Whanganui. He said he had “cleared the decks” for 2023.
“This [lockdown project] was an absolute team effort.
“My wife Candice was very good at keeping us on the straight and narrow through Covid.
