The Lockdown Collection announces The Extension campaign

A campaign to raise money for artists and the Solidarity Fund kicked off within two days, from conception to rollout. It has already raised R2 million.

The Lockdown Collection – or TLC – is the brainchild of Carl Bates (chief executive of Sirdar Group), Lauren Woolf (founder and wwner, MRS WOOLF) and Kim Berman (founding director Artist Proof Studio and professor of visual arts, UJ). The idea was to curate and auction a collection of COVID-19-related artworks by renowned South African artists, with the proceeds going into a fund which would, in turn, support artists during the pandemic.

Each day, the campaign revealed the artwork of a participating artist – among them, Penny Siopsis, Sam Nhlengethwa, Diane Victor, Ardmore Ceramic Art, Gerhard Marx and Thenjiwe Nkosi. The foundation piece, a drawing by William Kentridge, entitled ‘Where shall we place our hope’, was sold for R500 000, which established the Fund prior to the auction.

In just two days, from conception to roll-out, the TLC team launched a 21-day lockdown campaign – called The Lockdown Collection, starting on 27 March 2020.

“In terms of artistic response to Covid-19, The Lockdown Collection is the most significant initiative in the art world, on planet earth, right now”.
Professor Mark Auslander, from Central Washington University in the US

“Imagine what this lockdown would be like, without the entertainment and inspiration we derive from books, music, TV shows or art – all of which are created by artists,” says Woolf. “We have to protect our artists and build the integrity and historical value of their artworks. These are, after all, snapshots of life at an extraordinary time in history”.

The Lockdown Collection: a R2 million success story

Buyers placed bids on the artworks, such that each piece was ‘underwritten’ at an average value of R25 000 to R50 000 by the time of the campaign’s concluding auction event – the Unlocking Event. Before the Unlocking Event itself, the reserves had already reached over R500 000. Donations were also welcomed throughout the campaign.

Held on 19 April, 2020, the Unlocking Event auction, hosted by Aspire Art Auctions, was conducted via a unique live webinar session, with a ‘live’ auctioneer and an estimated 500 virtual attendees. The cherry on the top was Artist Proof Studio’s donation of two additional works for auction – one by Lukas Ngweng and another by William Kentridge. The Unlocking Event sold and auctioned every item in the catalogue – something the auction community terms a “white glove sale”. Each piece of art was sold at (or very close to) market value. Sometimes well beyond. But most remarkable is the sum collected by The Lockdown Collection campaign – a staggering R2 million.

This allowed for an immediate initial donation of R250 000 to the President’s Solidarity Fund, as well as instant allocations to the Vulnerable Visual Artists Fund (a fund established by TLC). This Fund has paid out grants to over 100 vulnerable artists, to date.

The incredible support for The Lockdown Collection campaign created a powerful movement within the arts community; artists reached out to the TLC team, wanting to support the project.

When the President announced the extension of the lockdown, the TLC team saw an opportunity to extend the initial campaign and build on its successes. “We had hoped to start a movement, which would create a sustainable source of support for the arts community. The Extension Collection, as we have called it, is the manifestation of this,” explains Woolf.

TLC has also issued an Open Call to emerging artists, including students, inviting their submissions. This presents up-and-coming artists with an opportunity to showcase their work and build their profile. The artworks submitted will be allocated to two additional collections, each of 21 artworks: An Open Call collection and a Student collection.