A Latitude adjustment

The RMB Latitudes Art Fair is set to return to Joburg's Shepstone Gardens from 23 to 25 May for its fourth edition.

- Kibo Ngowi

Launched in 2019 by Roberta Coci and Lucy MacGarry, the fair began as an entrepreneurial leap of faith. Both had experience with large-scale events through Artlogic and recognised the shift happening in the local and global art landscapes.

The inaugural edition took place at Nelson Mandela Square, inside a 1000-square-metre marquee, with 40 exhibitors from as far as Oslo and New York and across Africa.

"Even then, it was all about contemporary African art," says MacGarry. "That has always been our defining mandate."

The 2019 edition drew around 7 000 visitors and proved that there was space, and appetite, for a new kind of art fair that catered to both established and emerging voices.

The second edition was in the works when the Covid-19 pandemic halted global events. Plans to host the fair on a rooftop venue in Sandton were scrapped, and like many in the arts, the co-founders were forced to pivot. That pivot became an innovation — a comprehensive online platform for showcasing and selling art.

"We had talked about building something digital for a long time," says Coci. "Covid gave us the time and necessity to do it. We launched the platform in July 2020 with 350 artists. Today there are more than 2000."

This digital-first period also cemented Latitudes' unique positioning. The platform gave independent artists the opportunity to present their work side by side with established galleries, something that had traditionally been a point of contention in the art fair format.

"We were scared we'd get pushback from galleries," MacGarry admits. "But with everyone's income at risk, it was a moment where those rules no longer applied.

"That precedent has stuck. We're still the only fair to host both galleries and independent artists in the same space."