Exhibition: EUPHORIA … IN SY GLORIA – A solo exhibition by Hannalie Taute
Dates: 27 February – 13 April 2025
Venue: Annex Gallery, Oliewenhuis Art Museum, 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein
Oliewenhuis Art Museum is pleased to present Euphoria … in sy Gloria, Hannalie Taute’s 21st solo exhibition. The 19 multi-media artworks portray her re-stitching of historical narratives into a fantastical new rebirth of the fairy-tale wedding mythology. It promises to be a celebration of times to come and aims to provoke a feeling of euphoria, something that we are all currently yearning for.
Hannalie explains: ‘I work primarily with the captured image. Altered, re-imagined and reinterpreted. Using mainly vintage photographs sourced from flea markets and even from my own family archives, which are used as is, or blown up to a larger scale. These discarded remnants of the past are reworked with embroidered rubber inner-tube inlays, and their treatment of these remnants are at times ghoulish and macabre, imbuing the work with notions of identity in terms of culture, heritage and society. A re-stitching of historical narrative of sorts. The surrealism of conflicting customs and traditions sutured, like stitching up a wound or incision, reminiscent of an autopsy. I want to create unsettling work tinged by a bit of humour that questions notions of family, childhood, identity and memory’.
She uses embroidery, historically regularly practiced by women, and combines this with discarded rubber inner-tubes, mostly used in heavy vehicles – especially ones from tractors used by farmers today. These elements are used to enhance old photographs (reproduced by new technology), to create a fresh narrative. She creates her own imaginary fairy-tale kingdom by removing the faces and historical identities from these vintage photographs, and as she replaces them with a variety of cultural masks stitched onto rubber with colourful embroidered flowers, a new fantasy emerges. Something for a world clinging to the need to believe in euphoria. Humour and seriousness are juxtaposed to create a make-believe world for everyone to enjoy and discuss. Taute further amplifies the story the exhibition is telling by concocting a clever, quirky title for each artwork.
A wedding is often the wondrous outcome of fairy tales. An auspicious union meant to correct all that is wrong and unjust in the world. How long can this feeling of euphoria, created by the promise of a happy ever after, last?
The exhibition, Euphoria … in sy Gloria… is inspired on the tragedy of Fairy-tale Logic (referring to a poem by A.E. Stallings), in a narrative verse borne from another unconventional marriage:
“One day the King and a young soldier were married. ‘Welcome to the Fees van die Aangenaaides*’, they said, because family is far more than biology”, right?!
We also know that home wasn’t built in a day, but suddenly a home appeared where it wasn’t the day before.
‘Who lives here?’ asked the beautiful princess.
The Elephants replied: ‘the Lovely Princess Candlewick, of course’. Back in the day she was a Make-Believe wife, who used to say things like: ‘last night I was kissed by an oh so handsome man’ and he was the catch of the day!’
Meanwhile, the tailor stood in front of a tree, thinking that ‘no-one torments my family but me.’ ‘Prey (sic) for them, for they are at a ripe old age – say cheese.’
And at long last, when the prince saw the beautiful princess, he leaned over and licked her. That is how Jason and Medea, loved by the people, lived happily ever after.
The end.
But wait! What is so happy about the ever after?
The amazing memories of course!
The end (again).” Hannalie Taute
(*Aangenaai is an Afikaans word that literally translates as: Festival of the Sewn, but it is also a play on the word, which refers to marrying into a family, whereas naai – means literally to sew as well as a slang word for sexual intercourse. It also makes reference to the title of a brilliant book: Fees van die Ongenooides by PG du Plessis.)
Hannalie Taute was born in 1977 and raised into a middleclass Afrikaans speaking family, and started her life’s journey in a small town called Fochville in Gauteng, South Africa.
In 2000, she obtained a National Higher Diploma in Fine Art at PE Technicon (now the NNMU). She started working with rubber and particularly repurposed rubber inner-tubes more than a decade ago, and in 2012 embroidery was added to her list of preferred media.
Hannalie Taute’s first solo exhibition, called Siembamba – let’s play pretend in 2004 was held at the João Ferreira Gallery in Cape Town, and since then, she participated in over 50 exhibitions and art fairs locally and internationally, including Australia, The Netherlands, Tasmania and the USA. Recent solo exhibitions was hosted by MContemporary Gallery – (Sydney Australia), and Knysna Fine Art (South Africa) in 2024. She also participated in 3 art fairs during 2022 namely, Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Positions Berlin and the AKAA Art Fair in Paris; and once again at the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, which she had the privilege to visit in 2024.
She was a finalist in 2004 for the ABSA l’Atelier exhibition and a nominee for the Fiesta awards in 2012, 2015 and 2017. She received the Kanna Award for best visual art production at the 2014 KKNK Arts Festival for her solo exhibition called Rubber ever after. In 2017 she had to honour to represent South Africa at the Museum Rijswijk Textile Biennale in the Netherlands.
Taute’s works are included in various private collections around the world as well as the academic collection of UNISA. She currently resides and work in Riversdale, at the foot of what is known as the Sleeping Beauty Mountain range in the Western Cape, the Hessequa region.
For more information from the artist, please visit: www.hannalietaute.com or contact her at: Hannalie Taute +27 72 194 8335, hannalie.t@gmail and stay up to date by following Hannalie Taute on Instagram and X for all upcoming exhibitions and events. Please note that the museum does not handle any sales, for sales enquiries kindly contact Hannalie Taute directly.
The exhibition can be viewed until Sunday, 13 April 2025. Oliewenhuis Art Museum is located at 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein and is open to the public from Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00, and on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays between 09:00 and 16:00. A ramp at the entrance of the main entrance provides access for wheel chairs, while a lift provides access to the Permanent Collection display areas on the 1st floor. R10 parking fee will be charged but entrance to the museum is free.
For more information on Oliewenhuis Art Museum please contact the Museum at 078 968 4300 or oliewen@nasmus.co.za. Stay up to date by following Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Facebook, Instagram and X for all upcoming exhibitions and events.
