A red carpet, the lyrical notes of a violin and several big cats greeted guests as they arrived at the Donald Greig Gallery in the V&A Waterfront on November 10th for the novel and unique art auction fundraising event 2016
It was shortly after their opening launch that Donald & Ali Greig offered the use of their new Gallery & Foundry space to The Cape Leopard Trust to host their annual fundraiser. After months of planning, with Rachel Smith from Designstar, and with the support of Jaguar Stellenbosch and Leopard’s Leap Family Vineyards we welcomed our special guests, filling the sophisticated and inviting space to its capacity.
It was an evening of artistic firsts. On arrival Leopards Leap welcomed guests with their just released ‘leopartini’ cocktail. It was also the official launch outing for the new Cape Leopard Trust re-usable shopping bag by Bags4Good, a project created by Flint Sky Interactive and embraced by the Woolworths Good Business Journey to help raise funds for deserving conservation projects.
Jaguar Stellenbosch brought along their own ‘big cats’. The new F-Pace SUV, a fabulous red F-type and an F-Pace covered in spots as a commitment to the developing partnership between Jaguar Stellenbosch and The Cape Leopard Trust.
The unique art consisting of seventeen leopard statuettes, created and contributed by artist and conservationist, evoked interest and fascination. Each piece had been transformed from plain pressed-wood, leopard silhouette cut-outs into beautifully crafted and intriguing pieces each telling their own story. The one of a kind artworks stimulated both conversation and reflection.
The evening was opened with a poem recital by Dr. Ian McCallum followed by the screening of Justin Bonello’s Leopard 350 documentary trailer. Auctioneer for the evening, Nik Rabinowits, then kicked off the auction action in a light hearted and entertaining way and helped to raise in excess of R400 000, all of which goes towards the valuable work of the Trust.
The evening was a celebration of leopards in the Cape, and an appreciation of their continued survival in the wild.
We honour to each artist and conservationist for gifting their time and talent!
- Dame Jane Goodall
- Johnny Clegg
- Beezy Bailey
- Tracy Payne
- Donald Greig
- Francine Scialom Greenblatt
- Lindy Solomon
- Liz Smith
- Megan Carr
- Darren Nobodyfamous
- Wendy Paterson
- Maureen Visagé
- Heath Nash
- Cathy Abraham
- Matete Motubatse
- Caroline Kappers
- Eris Silke
- Kim Donaldson
- Deziree Smith
A number of special travel/experience packages were included in a silent auction, and we acknowledge the sponsors who kindly supported the event through these donations:
- Bastiaanskloof Private Nature Reserve
- CapeNature
- Cape Canopy Tours
- Endless Vineyards Boutique Lodge
- Klipbokkop Mountain Reserve
- Mountain Brewing Company
- Beau Constantia
Many thanks to the following people and companies for their invaluable contributions to the evening’s success:
Rachel Smith from Designstar Events | AV Alliance | Sue-Ann Allen | Athol Moult | Andy Lund | Parmalat | Soca Media | Affrodizzyacts | Wizardz Printing
