Take a historic venue – the Turbine Hall in Newtown – add The Forum Company, headed by the innovative Glynis Hyslop who lives to create memorable events, and an awesome and wide-ranging selection of contemporary art and you get one of the best annual art events in the city. This annual fair showcases emerging and established artists and attracts a hip crowd, there as much for the art as for The Forum Company’s imaginative gourmet fare and a fun social occasion in a fabulous urban setting.<br /> <br /> Now in its fifth year this contemporary African art fair has become a city fixture attracting thousands to downtown Joburg over three wintry days. If ever you had dreams of collecting art this is a great place to start with almost 50 galleries and artist studios presenting works focused on affordable and investment-worthy art with a ceiling price of R50,000, including major local names like <strong>Artist Proof Studios</strong>, the <strong>Bag Factory Artists</strong>, <strong>Lizamore & Associates</strong>, <strong>David Krut Projects</strong>, <strong>Res Gallery</strong> and <strong>Living Artists Emporium</strong> to name just a few. <h2>Special exhibitions and installations</h2> As well as the wealth of fabulous art on display from participating galleries, this year's art fair also presents a number of exciting special exhibitions including:<br /> <br /> <strong>Anton Taljaard: Pierneef, A Collector's Passion</strong> Sponsored by ArtInsure and leading auction house Strauss & Co, the fair hosts this stunning exhibition of works by South African master JH Pierneef from the collection of foremost collector Anton Taljaard. Taljaard has been collecting Pierneef's works since he was a teenager and this exhibition showcases a rarely seen and splendid collection of the artist's work including etchings, water colours and oil paintings that is one of the biggest private collections in the county.<br /> <strong>Fresh Produce<em>,</em></strong> a showcase of brand new works by 15 exciting young, up-and-coming South African artists.<br /> <strong>The Emerging Painters Graduate Show</strong>, an exhibition specially curated for the event that showcases some of the best post-graduate painting from fine arts departments across South Africa.<br /> <strong>The Casspir Project </strong>Ralph Ziman’s awe-inspiring The Casspir Project is a repurposed Casspir military vehicle that is entirely covered with intricate beadwork. Created by a group of more than 60 African beaders, the beads alone are thought to weigh one tonne (<a href="https://www.inyourpocket.com/johannesburg/south-african-arrt-the-casspir-project-by-ralph_74797f">read more about this incredible artwork here</a>). <h2>TAF ARTINSURE TALKS</h2> The talks programme at this year's fair includes discussions on buying and collecting art led by leading collectors, curators and celebrated artists such as Nelson Makamo and Usha Seejarim. There are also two documentary films screening at the fair: <em>Peggy Guggenheim - Art Addic</em>t (Saturday at 11:30 and Sunday at 15:15) and <em>Herb and Dorothy</em>, a film about the pair dubbed New York's "proletarian art collectors", which proves that you don't have to be a Rockefeller to start collecting art (Sunday at 13:30). <h2>TAF FOR KIDS</h2> On Saturday and Sunday the fair hosts a special kids area where the little ones can get busy creating their own masterpieces. There are also artist-led walkabouts for children taking place at 11:00 and 12:15 (for children aged 6-11 and for those aged 12 and upwards).<br /> <br /> <strong>Turbine Art Fair 2017 is open:</strong><br /> Thu July 13 18:00-21:00 First Access cocktail party (tickets will not be sold at the door for the opening night and must be purchased online).<br /> Fri July 14 11:00–20:00<br /> Sat July 15 10:00–18:00<br /> Sun July 16 10:00–17:00<br /> <br /> Take note that Turbine Art Fair is a completely cashless environment.