Kim Berman at Bayside Gallery

When I received an invitation from Sue Greenberg to attend the opening of ”Collection 2006”, at Bayside Gallery at the Bat Centre, Durban my expectations were fairly vague. Knowing that prints by Kim Berman were to feature strongly in the collection did little to dispel my preconceived ideas. Kim Berman, however, takes print – making to a new level. As senior lecturer and head of printmaking at The University of Johannesburg and director of Art Print Studios, she is an obvious leader in her field.

Three series of prints were chosen for the exhibition: The first a series of lithographs on fire and smoke entitled: “Through the wire, Lowveld fire”, the second, the mine dump series, consisting of a combination of monoprint and etching and the third, “Red ribbons on a pond” a series exploring a new and previously unexplored element. I found myself fascinated by the technical effects created by the combinations of printing techniques. The series “Through the wire, Lowveld fire” seemed to me more reminiscent of pastel painting and not printing at all.

Chatting to Kim was equally fascinating: She explained how the elements of earth and fire had been used as metaphors for social issues in her work. She had first explored fire as a metaphor for cleansing and purging during the time of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Her minescapes in the mine dump series, represent the paradox of the land: wealth and poverty, despair and hope, past and present - they explore a search for hope and healing in destruction. In the third series, flame tree blossoms like red ribbons on a pond, symbolize the senseless death of people through Aids.

Kim received a degree in Fine Art from Wits University in 1981 and a Master of Fine Arts in the USA in 1989. She has been involved in a number of community projects, such as the founding of a community printmaking centre in Newtown in 1992, the Paper Prayers campaign and a natural poverty alleviation campaign called Phumani Paper.

Kim has lectured and exhibited in South Africa and internationally. She has held solo exhibitions in Johannesburg, Belgium and the USA and is currently registered at Wits University for a PHD on the role of the visual arts in social change in South Africa.

“Collection 2006”, which includes work by ceramicists such as Karen Kotze, Hennie Meyer, John Newdigate, Karen Sinovich, Clive Sithole and Martha Zettler as well as fabric work by Zimeleni and handcrafted jewellery by Durban designers will be at Bayside Gallery until mid-January and is well worth a visit.