2010 Fine Art Official Website Launched to Coincide with World Summit on Arts & Culture
“Art is a language common to all. It opens windows of understanding between foreign cultures and unites peoples who might otherwise share no common experiences. Sport, like art, creates bridges between cultures, and brings people together through shared excitement. It is absolutely appropriate therefore that art, sport and heritage are all being highlighted this week in South Africa – where in just 260 days the first ever African FIFA World Cup™ will be staged,”
said Rob Spaull, General Manager of 2010 Fine Art, speaking about the launch of the official 2010 Fine Art website - www.2010fineart.com
“We have chosen this day to launch the online home of the 2010 Fine Art project because it is also the start of the 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture, hosted for the first time right here in South Africa,” said Spaull. “This week also marks the launch, in KwaZulu-Natal, of the Annual Heritage Arts Festival and, on Thursday, we will celebrate our National Heritage Day. The eyes of the world are turning to South Africa as never before. We must make every use of these global opportunities to promote African visual arts and Africa as a powerful cultural destination.”
2010 Fine Art is a South African company that has acquired from the Global Brands Group, FIFA’s Master Licensee, a global license to produce and distribute fine art related to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. It is the first time in the eighty-year history of the tournament that FIFA has granted a license of this nature. According to Spaull, the 2010 Fine Art project will be one of the largest international art collaborations in history.
“We are assembling an international collection by some of the world’s leading contemporary artists that celebrates Africa and the FIFA World Cup™,” said Spaull. “With five artists from each nation that qualifies to play in South Africa, we will have 160 original works from every corner of the globe. Add to that the exceptional pieces being assembled for the 2010 African Fine Art Collection and the fact that we will be exhibiting not only here in South Africa but in all 32 countries during 2010, and you start to get a sense of how big an opportunity this is to promote African art and Africa as a destination of choice.”
Speaking specifically about the website, Spaull said:
“We have been developing the site for a number of months now – working closely with our design team to create a truly user-friendly look and feel. The result is a simple yet powerful interface that allows visitors to see which countries have qualified and what art is available from each. As new teams qualify their art will be loaded and updated. We have also created a number of interactive links to our social networking sites, video resources and other recommended news and information portals about the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and South Africa.”
Asked about progress in assembling the collections, Spaull added:
“We are still very much in the process of adding new artists to both the International and African Fine Art Collections and the new site has a specific section dedicated to inviting new artists to join the project. We are also starting to identify and appoint the exclusive gallery partners in the 32 countries where we will be exhibiting and this section also invites interested galleries to contact our team.”
Spaull had this to say about 2010 Fine Art’s future website development plans:
“The second phase of development will see the creation of a three dimensional virtual art gallery in which all of the works from both collections will be able to be viewed online as part of a seamless virtual walkthrough. These and other features will be in place in time for the series of global exhibitions planned for early 2010.”
- ENQUIRIES & INTERVIEWS: ROB SPAULL
- CELL: +27 83 777 8563
- EMAIL: rob@2010fineart.com
- WEB: www.2010fineart.com
