The art of neglect
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฏ.
It was a flagrant heist: a man walks into a prestigious art gallery in broad daylight, removes a painting from its walls, dumps the frame, and then simply walks out. No one so much as raised an eyebrow. But what seemed a brazen act of criminality was actually an experiment aimed at testing the security at the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), Africaโs largest. It boasts thousands of works including pieces by Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Gerard Sekoto, Walter Battiss, William Kentridge, and Sydney Kumalo. The collection is valued at between R500 million and R1 billion, but the gallery is now a shadow of its former glory. Derelict, dilapidated and in total disrepair with empty exhibit halls, crumbling walls and closed-off areas. Carte Blanche exposes the rot.
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