Record Amount Raised at Wavescape Surfboard Art Exhibition

Wavescape Film Festival : 9th December, 4th beach Clifton. 11 to 14 December Brass Bell, Labia Cinema 15 to 19 December.Record Amount Raised for Ocean Charities at Wavescape Surfboard Art ExhibitionTwelve surfboards at the annual Wavescape Charity Art Auction attracted a record R221,000 at the Field Office restaurant in Cape Town last night.Proceeds of the event, which marked the beginning of the Wavescape Film Festival, go to ocean charities the NSRI, and Shark Spotters, as well as AIDS awareness organisation the Isiqalo Foundation, which offers a ‘Waves for Change’ surfing programme.Auctioneer Mark Sampson was in top comedic form, and his abrasive technique helped boost Brett Murray’s provocative board labeled “Forward Comrades” beneath a Johnny Walker logo in gold-leaf on black to the highest single amount for a surfboard: R41,000.The surfboard decorated by Zapiro, featuring a woman called Free Speech fending off a burst of water from Zuma’s shower head, went for R35,000, while Guy Tillim’s board, glassed with a special print of the award-winning photo he took in the Congo, went for R27,000.Sampson, in his inimitable whacky comedic style got the crowd warmed up with the sale of the first board by Colwyn Thomas which went for R11 000. Next followed Peter Eastman for R10,000, with the double sided board by Kim Longhurst and Scott Robertson went for R20,000 as proceedings started heating up. The finless board by Conn Bertish - he hacked the fin off at the Chinese Consulate in protest against shark finning – went next for R6,500.The One Love Studio board, decorated by artists and children from Masiphumelele for the Isiqalo Foundation, went for R17,000 which will go straight back to the foundation. Next came the biggie, with gasps of awe as frenzied bidding took the price to stratospheric heights.Kommetjie artist Osnat de Villiers, whose board went for the most last year, went next for R12,000, with Richard Scott’s iconic board fetching R16,000 and ND Mazin’s board going for R7,000, followed by Tillim and Zapiro, fetching a total of R62,000 for both of them.“We are completely over the moon by the generosity of the people who came to the auction,” said a delighted Steve Pike, founder and director of the event. “We can now assist our ocean charities and the Isiqalo Foundation, which does important work within our local communities. As usual Mark created some fabulous fun by egging on the bidding wars, which helped set the scene for people to give so generously.”Tonight (Friday 9 December) the film component of the Wavescape Film Festival presented by Pick ‘n Pay kicks in with an exclusive outdoor screening on Clifton 4th Beach where surf films Thirty Thousand and Leave a Message will make for a memorable evening under the stars from 9 to 10.15pm. After Clifton, catch films at famous surfers' pub the Brass Bell in Kalk Bay, from 11 to 14 December and at the Labia Cinema, from the 15th to the 19th. There are 23 films, from big wave surfing, MMA fighting, snowboarding, the next evolution in high performance surfing, bodysurfing, bodyboarding, wakeboarding, MTB stunts, and wingsuit BASE jumping. Wavescape will also screen a record number of South African-made films: The Africa Project, Afrika, Tropical Roast, Contrast, Hooked, Leaping Louse 2011, Into the Light and Stone Rolling.”The world premiere of Surfing and Sharks- The Movie produced by Wavescape’s Chris Mason, for the festival, and stars SA’s free-surf star Andrew “Roosta” Lange as well as Avuyile Ndamase, Lungani Memani and some sick waves on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.'The Wavescape Film Festival is supported by the Save Our Seas Foundation, BOS Ice Tea, Rip Curl, GoPro, Men’s Health, The Bomb Surf, Cape Times, Cape Town TV as well as Grolsch, Cape City VW, Patron and WAWA surfboards.Tickets are R30 for the screenings at The Brass Bell and The Labia Theatre. Clifton 4th beach screening are free. For more information go to www.wavescape.co.za, Twitter/WavescapeSA, Facebook/WavescapeSA or call the infoline on 079 0260 669.