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Spring Awakenings, a new multimedia group exhibition in the gallery at Art in the Forest is open to the public until 31 October. This is not just any Spring, it is Spring in South Africa 2011. It is Spring in the greatest economic recession since the 1930’s. And the perspectives are very different. The unease is palpable.
Derric van Rensburg ‘Spring Fields’
The works of a wide selection of contemporary artists are featured, each presenting a point of view along the infinite continuum of human experience. While the threads of regeneration, beauty, metamorphosis and the cycles of life underlie the whole, there are sinister underpinnings in certain instances.
Hanging next to top botanical artist Vicki Thomas’s Protea are two works by recent Michaelis graduate, David Brits – underneath his flowers lurk another layer of the countries recent history in the shape of a military helicopter and young soldiers. Helen Vaughan’s birds are crows while Gavin Collins’s are pigeons.
Dianne Heesom-Green’s arresting ceramic work called “Metamorphosis I, II and III” is at the centre of the exhibition underwriting the dualities of the exhibition.
Dianne Heesom-Greene ‘Metamorphosis’
Theo Paul Vorster enchants the eye with his original lino cuts, his tactile rendering of different materials such as wood and porcelain is masterful and his homage to Ingrid Jonker is both evocative and moving.
Theo Paul Voster ‘Lino Cut’
Apart from the magnificent floral works of the Keiskamma Art Project the only two paintings of flowers are the work of botanical artists. The extraordinary precision of observation required for botanical painting in order for it to constitute an accurate record of a particular species, holds within itself the faint outline of possible extinction.
While human undertakings are not always compatible with the flourishing of the natural world, the exhibition presents works of art in many different media all of them portraying beauty, metamorphosis, pleasure and the celebration of life in all its diversity.
Spring Awakenings is conceived of as a plea for consciousness. With all profits from sales of the exhibition to benefit the Light From Africa Foundation and its work to support vulnerable children in South Africa, there has never been a better reason to shop! Visit the exhibition at Art in the Forest, Cecilia Forest, Constantia Nek from Monday to Saturday between 10am and 4pm. Whilst there, enjoy a cup of freshly brewed coffee, peruse the functioning ceramic art studio, shop at the boutique upstairs or simply enjoy the breathtaking views of the valley below.
More more info visit www.lightfromafrica.com or join www.facebook.com/lightfromafrica
Keep a look out for pasted art, coming to a street near you. Khayelitsha got pasted today and the city centre will get the same treatment on Monday and Tuesday this coming week. We love this project that aims to get art out of galleries and into the streets where it can be interacted with and enjoyed by the community!
Paste. is curated by Shani Judes of SJ ARTISTS and Between 10and5 .
For this project, 15 local artists were selected to design, illustrate or photograph work inspired by the theme: Khayelitsha Culture. The work has since been converted into large scale wheat pastes and will be pasted around Khayelitsha and the inner city of Cape Town over the next few days!
See if you can spot one!
To raise funds for this project and for future projects – final images will be on sale on the Between10&5 website.
Artists involved:
Simon Berndt – One Horse Town
Cassandra Leigh
Lauren Fowler
Wesley Van Eeden
Jonx Pillemer
Russel Goodman ELLO – Love And Hate Studio Swain Hoogervorst &Paul Ward
Miné Jonker & Clinton Campbell from Studio Muti
Black Koki – Love And Hate Studio
Julia Merrett
Chris Slabber
Claire Homewood
Mak1one
Fuzzy Slippers
Donna Solovei
Yuma Yoshimura (TOKYO)
Linsey Levendall
A first for Cape Town, the Toffie Food Festival and Conference plays host to specialist foodie speakers from around the world and invites Capetonians to sample, smell, taste and be inspired!
This two day long event (3 & 4 September) will be held at the Cape Town City Hall and includes tastings, workshops, food exhibitions, a food market, cookbook shop and quite unusually…a pinata exhibition!
As part of the conference, there will be talks by both local and international food celebrities and specialists including Julie Powell; whose book and blog inspired the movie ‘Julie and Julia’.
You can find out more and book your tickets here:
The Cape Town City Ballet will present a triple bill, ‘Dance International’‘ at the Artscape Theatre, Cape Town from 22 — 30 October, 2011.
This triple bill features two international works and a piece by acclaimed South African choreographer, Adele Bank.
Chinese born Patsy Toh will be performing on Wednesday 31 August at 20:00 in Hiddingh Hall as part of the Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA) Music in the City concert series.
Toh was born in China, but lived in England from an early age. She was educated at Westonbirt School for girls in Gloucestershire where she won an Associated Board Scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music.
After graduation, she entered the class of Yvonne Lefebure at the Paris Conservatoire and was awarded her premier Prix in 1961. She participated in Alfred Cortot’s master class and gave performances for Jeunesse Musicale. Under Ibbs and Tillett management, she performed in many music clubs in England and also in France, Denmark and the Far East.
In 1967 she formed a trio which won a prize in the BBC chamber music competition. In 1970 she went to the United States for two years. During this period, she worked with Aube Tzerko and was class pianist for Dorothy Delay, Cleveland Quartet and Sydney Harth at Aspen Summer school for several years.
After returning to London in 1973, she participated in the classes of Bruno Guirana and Pierre Fournier at Prussia Cove and Aldeburgh. In 1975 Iris Dyer a piano professor at Junior RAM passed away and the vacant post was offered to Toh. In 1989, she also took a post at Purcell School, a specialised music school for talented children and in 1994 she became part of the keyboard staff at senior RAM and was awarded an ARAM and subsequently a FRAM for her services to music.
She retired from Senior RAM in the summer of 2009 but continues to develop young talent at Junior RAM and Purcell school. Her students have won scholarships, competitions in the UK and overseas. Toh has also given master classes at Yehudi Menuhin School, Chetham’s summer school, Trinity Laban Conservatoire (Trinity College of Music) and music colleges and universities in Taiwan, Singapore, HongKong, Beijing and Shanghai. She currently lives in London and is married to the pianist Fou Ts’ong.
Toh will be performing Haydn’s Sonate in A flat major Hob XV1:46 and Variations in F minor, as well as Chopin’s Prelude in C sharp minor op.45 and 24 Preludes op.28. The event is free and no booking is necessary.
For more information on any of the events, phone the GIPCA office on 021 480 7156 or email fin-gipca@uct.ac.za.
As part of this year’s Out The Box Festival, UNIMA South Africa will be hosting five workshops exploring the art of stop-motion animation and puppetry in film.
More detailed information on each workshop can be found at www.outtheboxfestival.com
To apply contact admin@unimasouthafrica.org
Stop-Frame Animation Workshop (Moving Hands)
In this workshop, you will make a short film using a combination of techniques, such as claymation (plasticine), pixilation or puppetry.
Ages: 14-18
Friday 2 September: 14h30 – 17h30; Saturday 3 September: 09h30 – 13h30; Sunday 4 September: 09h30 – 13h30; Monday 5 September: 14h30 – 17h30
Cost: R350 for the full course
The ABC’s of animation and storytelling (Jeremy Puren)
This is a physical and engaging workshop where you will capture your movements and moving objects to create a short film.
Ages: 7 – 13
Friday 2 September: 14h00 – 17h30; Saturday 3 September: 09h30 – 13h00; Sunday 4 September: 09h30 – 13h00; Monday 5 September: 14h00 – 17h30
Cost: R200 per day
Hand-drawn animation Workshop (Nina Torr)
This workshop will cover the basics and materials needed to create a simple hand-drawn animation on paper following the techniques pioneered in traditional cel animation.
Ages: 16+
Duration: 2 hrs
When: Tuesday 6 September 14h00-16h00 or Friday 9 September 10h00-12h00
Cost: R200
Problem-solving in stop-motion animation (Nina Torr)
This course will explore devices and techniques that make the animation process simpler and more functional – includes optimizing your puppets and creating DIY camera equipment.
Ages: 16+
Duration: 2 hrs
When: Wednesday 7 September 10h00-12h00; Thursday 8 September 14h00-16h00
Cost: R200
Basic Armature Construction on a budget! (Marinda Botha)
This workshop gives an introduction to general armature construction and provides an example of one method of construction, keeping your budget in mind.
Ages: 16+
Duration: 1 hr 30 minutes
When: Tuesday 6 September 10h00-11h30; Wednesday 7 September: 14h00-15h30; Thursday 8 September 10h00-11h30; Friday 9 September 14h00-15h30
Cost: R200
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Moving-Things-Film-Festival/189537044429533?sk=wall)
Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/MovingThingsFF)
Comedian Marc Lottering and songwriter David Kramer have joined forces once again to bring a brand new musical comedy to the stage at the Baxter Theatre in October. Some Like it Vrot is written and directed by Kramer and will star Lottering and Christo Davids in the lead roles of Smiley and Fuad, characters created by Lottering in his stand up routines.
Kramer, one of the most successful creators of original musical theatre in South Africa has had a longtime association with comedian Marc Lottering. Although David is most often associated with writing musical theatre, he has also enjoyed great success directing comedy. Three of Marc’s solo shows, From the Cape Flats with Love, Hallelujah & Big Stakes & Slap Chips were directed by Kramer and Three Wise Men & its sequel, Three Wiser Men starring Marc Lottering, Riad Moosa and Nik Rabinowitz were all directed by David as well.
Lottering, famous for his stand-up comedy, and having performed in several pantomimes in Johannesburg, has always dreamed of singing and dancing in a musical of his own. Kramer has now taken one of Lottering’s most loveable characters, Smiley the taxi gaartjie and written a musical comedy tailored to the talents of the versatile Lottering. Christo Davids, well-known for his role in SABC’s 7de Laan, recently won a Kanna Award for his performance in the drama My naam is Ellen Pakkies, which enjoyed a sold out season at the Baxter in April. He now shares the stage with Marc for the first time, playing Smiley’s brother Fuad.
Some Like it Vrot is set in contemporary Cape Town and moves between Wynberg and Woodstock, Grassy Park and the Waterfront. It features Mercia Meintjies, a police detective played by Larissa Hughes, Tammy the night club singer played by Jill Middelkop, and Big Bucks the notorious crime boss played by Abduragman Adams. Alistair Izobel who started his stage career as one of the original Broetjies in the Kramer Petersen musical District Six and went on to perform the role of Bingo in Kat and the Kings on Broadway in 1999, also features in this musical comedy.
In Some Like it Vrot, Smiley (Marc) and Fuad (Christo) become entangled in a life threatening situation and have to run for their lives. They turn to Inspector Meintjies to help them escape their predicament. She comes up with a novel and outrageous solution. They are reluctant to go along with her plan, but have no choice. It might just save their lives.
Some Like it Vrot has been designed by Saul Radomsky who was responsible for the set design for Kat and the Kings on the West End & Broadway, as well as the 2003 production of District Six at the Baxter Theatre. Fahiem Bardien will be responsible for lighting design.
The Show opens on 21 October with performances from Mondays to Fridays at 8pm and on Saturdays at 5pm and 8.30pm. Booking is now open and tickets cost from R90 to R150 via Computicket or 0839158000. There is a special preview weekend on 21 and 22 October when tickets will cost R100 throughout.
Worldart is hosting an exhibition of street art-inspired paintings by Ricky Lee Gordon (aka Freddy Sam) and Paul Senyol from Saturday, 20 August to 3 September 2011 at its Cape Town gallery in Church Street. The exhibition will consist of four large paintings – one work by each artist and two collaborations.
Although Ricky Lee Gordon’s work can be seen on walls in Woodstock here in Cape Town and places as diverse as New York City and a village in Gambia, the opportunity to experience his work on canvas is a rare occasion and one to look forward to.
Paul Senyol is perhaps better-known for his work as a mixed media artist and he has participated in group exhibitions in SA and abroad. A not so well-known fact is that his work has also on occasion featured on walls in and around Cape Town and is strongly influenced by the freedom and design associated with skateboarding and punk rock.
Both these artists have just returned from excursions abroad – Ricky Lee Gordon (aka Freddy Sam) from a mural project in Los Angeles and Paul Senyol from a residency in Finland, bringing with them fresh ideas and perspectives on urban and street art.
Exhibition concludes Saturday, 3 September 2011
Both sides of the track is a visual survey of Woodstock architecture, landmarks, street art and the ever present dynamics of change.
Using meticulous stencil cutting as a metaphor for the tension between intellectual and new creative development, these cityscapes reflect the current interest in urban regeneration and opposing social sub-cultures. Representative of the time and place in which they were made, they are also underscored by a subtle message of hope and respect. Urban landscapes contrast, but also support, the graphic language of advertizing, grafitti and roadsigns. Their textures reflect the gritty surfaces of lived-in, urban squalor while their weathered exteriors often romanticize the canvas quality of street art with its industrial elegance and explosion of contemporary ideology.
Respectfully inclusive of what is “home” to a multi-faith, socially complex and cultural melting pot, these works pay homage to an eternally inviting, intriquing and creative suburb: Woodstock, Cape Town.
Opening night: Thursday, 11 August 2011, 5pm to 9pm
Business Hours: Tuesdays to Fridays, 10am to 4pm
Saturdays by appointment Tel 021 4472396
